Jan 4, 2013

• Project is to create some 4,500 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs

The BNDES has approved R$ 2.4 billion in financing to build a new Fiat car plant, with a capacity of 250,000 units per year, in the municipality of Goiana, in the state of Pernambuco.

In addition to the new production unit, the project entails installing an engine plant, a testing area, a suppliers’ network to develop new vehicles, and social investment in the local community. Some 4,500 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs are estimated to be created in the new automotive complex. 

The project will strengthen domestic industry by increasing the production capacity for cars, as well as enabling regional diversification in vehicle production, with a major impact     on employment and income in the northeast. 

The project will also impact on the capital goods industry, given the high volume of national machinery and equipment, which will represent an investment of approximately R$ 2.8 billion.

The Pernambuco state government, in partnership with Sesi and Senai, implemented a capacity-building program for local manpower to work in construction. In addition to this, universities in the state of Pernambuco and the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, will provide training courses to meet the needs of skilled labor for the automotive hub.

Civil works for the new plant will be completed in the first half of 2014, and the plant is expected to start operations in the first half of 2015. The project includes the production of new car models for the domestic market and for export. The plant, which will comprise an area of 3.3 million square meters, will be structured in separate warehouses for the main production stages: panel stamping, body shop, spray painting and end product assembly, in addition to utilities.

Warehouses for strategic suppliers will also be built on site, which will rely on Just-in-Time delivery of main components to the assembly line. This effort will contribute to gradually using local suppliers and reducing logistic costs, similar to what happened in Betim (MG) — where Fiat’s largest plant in the world is located — enabling the development and growth of local economy.

Testing area and engine plant – Fiat will build a testing area with several types of tracks and several floors for technological tests, as well as workshops and offices.

The engine plant will comprise an area of 50,000 square meters and will have the capacity to produce up to 150,000 engines per year, besides creating some 550 direct jobs. The engines will be developed to reduce fuel consumption, as well as improving vehicle performance. The plant will comprise assembly lines and a testing area.

Social and environmental investment – In partnership with the state government of Pernambuco, Fiat will build a Medical Care Unit in the municipality of Goiana, for medical appointments, diagnostic services, therapy and surgery. Total investment is estimated to be at R$ 23 million.

According to the project, the new plant will embrace modern concepts of sustainability: the water used in industrial process will be treated and reutilized; natural light and solar energy will be employed whenever possible, garbage and industrial waste will be recycled, as well as using renewable materials to build warehouses, among other efforts.

All equipment that discharges effluents will be connected to the industrial waste system in the warehouses, which, in turn, will carry them to a waste treatment plant.