logo
Chinese car giants rush into Brazil with dreams of dominating a continent

Chinese car giants rush into Brazil with dreams of dominating a continent

Time of India4 days ago
A two-hour drive beyond the traffic jams of São Paulo, past the vast valleys of sugar cane, one of the first Chinese battery-powered car factories in the Americas is getting ready to open.
Its goal is to reinvent the way Brazil drives, and ultimately, the rest of Latin America, much as Chinese automakers have already done across much of Asia and want to do in Europe.
Until recently, this factory was run by Mercedes-Benz, the German giant of 20th century automotive innovation that churned out cars powered by gasoline. Today, it's owned by Great Wall Motor, a company that is now one of China's leading exporters of stylish, affordable electric vehicles.
The change in hands reflects a profound disruption for one of the world's most vital industries. If American and European gas-guzzling cars once dominated global tastes and trends, that era appears to be fast turning to China's favor.
Today, not only does China make and export more cars of all types than any other country in the world, Chinese firms dominate the global manufacture of battery-powered vehicles of the future. They also control the supply chain for virtually everything that goes into those cars.
China's EV s are among the most advanced in the world. Some today go as far on a single charge as top-of-the-line Teslas, at lower prices. One Chinese carmaker, BYD, short for Build Your Dreams, has developed technology that can deliver a full charge in just five minutes.
Little wonder that Tesla sales in China are lagging, and that the United States, under both Presidents Joe Biden and
Donald Trump
, have essentially banned Chinese car imports.
For China, that leaves the rest of the world.
Its electric and hybrid manufacturers have set up, or are in the process of setting up, factories in Hungary, Indonesia, Russia, Thailand and Turkey. These efforts, including Great Wall's Brazilian factory, are part of a globe-spanning campaign by China to seize a major share of the world's auto industry, a powerful source of revenues, jobs and also national prestige.
Western auto giants are alarmed.
"We are in a global competition with China," Jim Farley, the CEO of
Ford
Motor Co., said at the Aspen Ideas conference in June. "It's not just EVs. And if we lose this, we do not have a future at Ford."
Great Wall Motor took over the Mercedes plant in the industrial town of Iracemápolis, near São Paulo, after the German carmaker closed shop in 2021, blaming a slump in luxury car sales. BYD took over a Ford factory after years of poor sales and steep losses forced the U.S. car giant to end its long history of manufacturing in Brazil.
Farley at the time called the closures "difficult but necessary actions." Ford had assembled cars in Brazil for a century, starting with the Model T.
"For the first time in decades, we're seeing a real challenge to the dominance of American and European brands, not just in terms of market share, but in shaping the future of mobility," said
Natalie Unterstell
, president of a climate research and advocacy organization called Talanoa Institute, based in Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil, the world's sixth largest car market, is trying to take advantage of it, instead of being steamrolled. It's prodding companies, no matter where they're from, to make cars on Brazilian soil, the less polluting the better, while also imposing steadily rising tariffs on imports.
It hasn't all been smooth sailing. There have been union clashes over Chinese labor practices. But the government's overall message: If you want access to our car buyers, then come and create factories and factory jobs here.
"We don't want to be an importer of technologies produced in other countries only," said
Rafael Dubeux
, special adviser to the Finance Ministry, in an interview in Brazil's capital, Brasília. "We also want to take advantage of this profound change in the world, in manufacturing facilities, so that Brazil also has a part in the value chains that we think are the ones that will prevail."
At least three Chinese firms are opening assembly plants in Brazil. In addition to Great Wall Motor and BYD, another Chinese automaker, Chery, has teamed up with a Brazilian company, Caoa, to produce cars in central Goias state.
Nevertheless, Marcio Lima Leite, head of the Brazil automaker association, remains worried. The new Chinese auto plants are mainly assembling cars with components imported from China, including the most valuable component, batteries. That, he said, will not advance the industry in Brazil.
"It's very important to have competitiveness in Brazil, to produce the new technology in Brazil," he said.
Chinese carmakers have had to bend to local needs in important ways. In Brazil, that means the needs of the powerful ethanol industry. Ethanol is produced from the country's huge sugar cane crop, and Brazilian law requires every liter of gasoline to be a little more than 25% ethanol.
So the auto companies aren't just making fully electric cars in Brazil. They are also having to make hybrids that run partly on the gas-ethanol blend and partly on batteries. "We need to produce what customers are looking for," said
Marcio Renato Alfonso
, a Brazilian who worked for an American carmaker for many years and is now Great Wall's director of research and development for Brazil. "High technology with an affordable price."
Along Henry Ford Avenue
in the industrial city of Camaçari, what was once a Ford factory is now becoming a BYD factory.
This had been Ford's newest plant. Every day, starting in 2001, it churned out hundreds of gas-powered cars. It employed some 5,000 workers. It also lost huge amounts of money.
In 2021, the Ford plant shut down.
"It was a shock," said Júlio Bonfim, who was president of the metal workers union at the factory. "I imagined my son would also work at the plant. It didn't happen."
The state government offered BYD a basket of incentives to take over the plant. But almost as soon as the Chinese company arrived, it got enmeshed in a labor scandal.
In December, Brazilian officials accused BYD's contractor, Jinjiang Construction Group, with keeping 163 Chinese workers in "conditions akin to slavery" and in violation of Brazilian labor laws. It embodied the reckoning that Chinese companies face as they seek to expand in Brazil, which has robust unions.
The workers were sent back home. Construction slowed down. Company officials said they expect to start production later this year. When it does, Bonfim's union insists that Brazilians must be hired to work the line. It has threatened to strike if Chinese workers are brought in.
BYD's top executive for Brazil,
Alexandre Baldy
, said the firm had taken steps to address the violations. In May the labor prosecutor's office filed charges against the carmaker and its contractors for human trafficking. The company said it plans to challenge the charges.
In the meantime, the Great Wall factory in Iracemápolis will almost assuredly already be fully operational. An opening ceremony is planned for August. Cars are due to roll off the factory floor soon after.
The factory first plans to produce one hybrid model and three plug-in hybrids.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

China stocks pause rally as investors eye Politburo meeting, but extend weekly gains streak
China stocks pause rally as investors eye Politburo meeting, but extend weekly gains streak

Mint

time44 minutes ago

  • Mint

China stocks pause rally as investors eye Politburo meeting, but extend weekly gains streak

China stocks dipped on Friday, pausing their rally as investors locked in gains ahead of a Politburo meeting expected to set economic policy for the rest of the year, though markets still registered a fifth straight weekly rise. ** The Shanghai Composite index fell 0.3% to 3,593.66, slipping from a 3-1/2-year high. China's blue-chip CSI300 index lost 0.5%. ** Liquor distillers dropped 2% and consumer staples slid 1.7%, leading declines onshore. Offsetting some losses, the AI sector jumped 2.2% and semiconductor sector climbed 1.9%. ** Despite the day's pullback, the Shanghai Composite index has gained 1.7% so far this week to log its fifth straight weekly gain - its longest winning streak since the start of a rally that began in February 2024. ** Beijing's latest efforts to curb excessive competition and overcapacity, and incremental signs of improving U.S.-China trade relations lifted sentiment. ** Analysts at CLSA said institutional investors' overall risk appetite has improved significantly this month, though some remain unconvinced about a structural bull run and see more sector-specific opportunities. ** Hong Kong's benchmark Hang Seng Index weakened 1.1% to 25,388.35 after closing at its highest since November 2021 on Thursday. ** The Hang Seng Tech Index led declines, losing 1.2% on the day. ** Market attention will be squarely on the Politburo meeting due later this month, given that it will likely shape economic policy for the rest of the year. ** Chinese policymakers, concerned about local growth amid an ongoing trade war with the U.S., are unlikely to offer a big gun stimulus this time until there's more clarity on what's needed, said Keiko Kondo, Schroders' head of multi-assets for Asia, who is neutral on China equities. This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

Chinese nationals attacked in Pakistan, Beijing puts touring Asim Munir in a spot over security lapses
Chinese nationals attacked in Pakistan, Beijing puts touring Asim Munir in a spot over security lapses

First Post

timean hour ago

  • First Post

Chinese nationals attacked in Pakistan, Beijing puts touring Asim Munir in a spot over security lapses

In the wake of continuing attacks on Chinese nationals and projects in Pakistan, China conveyed strong displeasure to visiting Pakistan army chief Asim Munir and pressed him to take action against anti-China groups on its soil. read more Confident from his visit to Washington DC, Pakistani army chief Asim Munir would have thought of having a victory lap in Beijing. Instead, he received a dressing down from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi over continuing attacks on Chinese nationals and businesses in Pakistan. In recent years, armed groups in Pakistan, such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), have mounted several attacks on Chinese projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Chinese nationals living in the country. China has repeatedly called Pakistan to rein in such groups, but the regime has failed to prevent such attacks — Pakistan has failed to prevent attacks against its own personnel as well. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Wang told Munir on Thursday that it is his hope that 'the Pakistani military will continue to make all-out efforts to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan', according to a readout carried by state-owned Xinhua news agency. Even as the two countries mentioned the usual cliches of being iron-clad brothers with an all-weather relationship, Wang's tone in repeated statements made it clear that the Communist Party is not pleased with the state of affairs in Pakistan. After all, the Gwadar port, described as the crown jewel of the CPEC, which itself is central to Xi Jinping's brainchild Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has failed to take off even after billions of dollars of investment over the past decade.

India flexible on Chinese investments in electronics: Govt source
India flexible on Chinese investments in electronics: Govt source

Business Standard

timean hour ago

  • Business Standard

India flexible on Chinese investments in electronics: Govt source

This came as Dixon Technologies has received approval from the Indian government to form a joint venture (JV) with Chinese peer Longcheer Press Trust of India New Delhi India is flexible for collaboration of domestic companies with Chinese, especially electronics, a government source said on Friday. Around 60 per cent of electronics manufacturing happens in China, and hence, it is not easy to ignore it, the source added. "Things are easing (between India and China). There are signals. Tourist visas have been opened. In electronics, 60 per cent of manufacturing takes place in China. So, there has to be some sort of collaboration," the sources said. He was replying to a question on government approval for the Dixon joint venture with Chinese companies. Dixon Technologies has received approval from the Indian government to form a joint venture (JV) with Chinese peer Longcheer. Dixon has been reaching out to several Chinese companies for joint ventures. It has signed separate agreements with Chinese electronic component firms -- Chongqing Yuhai Precision Manufacturing Co Ltd and the Indian arm of Kunshan Q Technology -- for manufacturing and sales of electronic components used in electronic devices like mobile phones and laptops, among others. The company's JV with Chinese smart devices maker Vivo is also in the works. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store