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12 FROM THE TOP » CARLOS ALBERTO OLIVEIRA ANDRADE April 2018 | AutoData How long will the CAOA contract with Hyundai go? Our contract is a partnership thing, it has no deadline, it’s a very strong business, very solid. So you do not want to get rid of the par- tnership with Hyundai? Never, I want to growwith both brands. Hyundai is looking forward to growing with CAOA even after Chery. The com- pany wants to grow with us, and we will soon have big decisions involving Hyundai. In Piracicaba they are already at maxi- mum capacity... Perfectly, and they want to grow. What is CAOA-Chery’s total production capacity? From 150 thousand to 200 thousand cars/year, the two factories together. Both Jacareí and Anápolis can be ex- panded, but Jacareí can reach 200 thou- sand/year easily, with little investment. Like CAOA, there are companies, inclu- ding global ones, such as FCA, that invest in a multibrand productive model. Do you understand that this is the future of the automotive industry, industrially speaking? Anápolis can produce cars of any brand, and this did not happen by chance. It was a studied thing. I started to think that this could happen and wanted us to be able to manufacture products of any brand. When we went to open the company there was Mitsubishi, which Eduardo [Souza Ramos] did, but I did not want it to be that way, I did not want it to be a Hyundai Motors. I did not want to put their name, I wanted CAOAAuto- maker, using license to make any brand, choosing the brand I wanted.I already represented Subaru, and by 2004, 2005, we had very advanced negotiations with them to manufacture the Forester here. I thought, ‘If I can make Subaru I can make Hyundai’. Our contract with them allowed this, that we had another brand, unless they gave me enough cars to fill the whole factory. When Hyundai came to Brazil and changed our model with them, I had the responsibility to produce another brand and so I started looking for the Chinese. I believe in this business model because the factory is not inactive. What will be the main focus of CAOA- Chery in the domestic market in terms of product? Brazil is SUV, for sure. The sedans are losing market, the SUV is the national preference. There is still room for sedans and hatches, but we see the SUVmarket growing. And not only in Brazil, but in the whole world. What is your estimate for the total do- mestic market in Brazil in 2018? The growth is happening. If nobody commit any foolishness, we can reach 20% in 2018. If the pension reform was approved, I am absolutely sure that the auto market would increase by 25% to 30% this year. What about Rota 2030? Do you see any chance of it being approved? I think it needs to be. Marcos Pereira [for- mer Minister of Industry, Foreign Trade and Services] wanted it, it is important because the industry out there is much more evolved than ours today. Brazil has a lot of things that makes the car expen- sive, if there is no incentive to the industry we will become an Australia, we will be just importers. Meirelles [Henrique Mei- relles, Minister of Finance] understood what the automobile industry is, that it is a fantastic thing, there is the whole chain, it provokes real job opportunities. You have to think about it, it’s good for the country. CAOA has a research and development center in Anápolis. It will play an impor- tant role within the CAOA-Chery?