Fiat Pledges to Invest R$16 Billion in Brazil in Next Five Years

By Lise Alves, Senior Contributing Reporter

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro celebrated this week the announcement by Fiat-Chrysler that it would invest R$16 billion in Brazil by 2024. According to the president, this is the “largest investment cycle in the company’s history in our country”.

“We are bringing back the confidence of those who produce!” tweeted the president.

The president noted that the new investments should generate sixteen thousand new direct and indirect jobs.

On Thursday morning, Bolsonaro and Economy Minister, Paulo Guedes, met with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Global President, John Elkann, and other executives of the FCA group.

“FCA has always believed in Brazil, where it decided to settle in 1973. Our confidence is renewed when we see with great optimism the determination of the Brazilian government to approve the structural reforms so necessary for the resumption of economic growth and the improvement of the country’s competitiveness,” Elkann told journalists after meeting with the president.

Elkann is said to have assured the president that FCA was optimistic about the perspectives of the country’s economy and development.

FCA’s CEO Mike Manley confirmed the group’s investment plan in Brazil in a cycle of development and new vehicles launches until 2024.

“Brazil has great strategic importance for the global operations of FCA, and has confirmed investments of R$16 billion in Brazil by 2024,” explained FCA’s COO for Latin America, Antonio Filosa.

“The resources will be directed towards the development and launch of new vehicles, the production of new engines, incorporation of new technology in vehicles, new production systems based on Industry 4.0 and new industrial facilities,” added the COO.

FCA has plants in Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Paraná.