Special Report
| by Austin Gamble
Brazil Automotive Industry
Looking to Buck the Trend
I recently attended the Automec show in São Paulo, Brazil. This annual show used to cover
both the passenger and commercial auto parts industry in Brazil, but because of lack of space
in the pavilion, it was decided that passenger and commercial would alternate each year.
The 2014 show, held at the Pavilhão de Exposições do Anhembi, São Paulo, was exclusively
Brazil Automotive Industry
for heavy and commercial vehicles.
T
he show was impressive and
informative, but the purpose of
my visit was far broader than
just visiting an auto show. I was the
guest of the Brazilian Association of
Autoparts Manufacturers (Sindipeças),
who together with ApexBrasil promote a
sectorial project known as “Excellence
in Autoparts”, and they were pretty keen
to show me a broad spectrum of their
industry. Sindepeças is the entity that
represents approximately 95% of the
auto parts industry in Brazil, comprising
national and international companies,
and is similar to South Africa’s Naacam
(National Association of Automotive
Component and Allied Manufacturers)
in that it provides leadership for the
industry and also represents the industry
at institutional and political level.
ApexBrasil is the Brazilian Trade and
Investment Promotion Agency, and they
support Sindipeças in their endeavours,
including the Buyer
Seller Meeting
project.
Brazil is a
fascinating and
vibrant country,
and in four days
I was exposed to
this vibrancy in
the automotive
aftermarket, and
to the logistics
challenges facing
the industry. I
spent a day at
Automec, I visited
the port of Santos,
I did a tour of an
automotive filter factory, I was shown an
inspiring real life situation of the power
of education at a technical training
college, I had the opportunity to see
first-hand the common sense approach
practised at a parts distribution centre,
I interviewed Brazilian auto parts
companies visiting and/or displaying
at Automec, and I also interviewed
executives and representatives of
Sindipeças. By the way, don’t tell
anyone, but I also sneaked a ride to the
Itaquerão stadium in São Paulo, the
home ground of the Corinthians Soccer
Club and the venue for the opening
ceremony of the 2014 FIFA World Cup,
which will take place in June and July
2014. And the more I learnt, the more I
realised that Brazil and South Africa are
remarkably similar, in so many ways.
Of course, from a scale point of
view, Brazil is much bigger. With a
population of 200 million people, and
a much larger land mass, Brazil is the
world’s fifth biggest country in terms
of size and population, whereas South
Africa, with 50 million people, is much
smaller.
| words in action
58
may 2014