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31 AutoData | May 2018 A month before, however, November 2015, the first turnaround: in a straight state- ment Honda reported that the inauguration was suspended for an indefinite period, due to the crisis in sight in the automotive market, already evident at that time. And now, when the company decided for the long-awaited start of productive activities in the factory - closed for about two and a half years ago - a new and re- levant change: instead of increasing Su- maré volumes, Itirapina will receive all production of Honda vehicles here. That is: it will be a total transference and no more a complementarity. In this way the production capacity of the manufacturer herewill not be doubled, but will continue in the range of 120 thousand units / year. Volume above that, in a curiousway, would require investment in increasing capacity of Itirapina. The transfer process, according to Hon- da, will begin in 2019 andwill be complete by 2021. Sumaré, by the way, will not be closed: it will continue to manufacture engines, including casting and machining, as well as activities related to components such as plastic injection and tooling, as well as quality engineering, industrial planning and logistics, activities that already occur to- day. The Automotive Research and Deve- lopment Center, the parts division and the Technical Training Center for dealerships will also continue there. And the unit will continue as the administrative headquarters of Honda SouthAmerica, which it received in 2015 with the transfer of previously allo- cated professionals in the Capital. Honda justifies the decision, claiming that “although the local market is showing a recent recovery, growth prospects remain below the previously projected volume [at the time of the decision to build the second factory in 2013]. Based on the current sce- nario the companywill need to strengthen the automotive production structure to ensure the sustainability of the business for the future”. For the company, “the new unit is the result of a more modern design and the- refore more productivity, more efficient from the point of viewof productivity, with better flexibility to meet the technological demands for upgrades in our line of cars”. Sumaréwas inaugurated in 1997, as the main symbol of the arrival of new manu- facturers in the country, andwhile Itirapina was still under construction or turned off, it embraced the production of two new models, HR-V andWR-V, besides the new generation of the Civic. According to Paulo Takeuchi, executive director of institutional relations for South America, all the main equipment needed for production is already installed in Itira- pina: “To begin mass production it will only be necessary to install specific equipment, to resume the tests, trainings and transfer of people”. The schedule foresees start of activities in January of the next yearwith Fit, at a rate of 90 units/day. Honda intends to bring to Itirapina all the approximately 2 thousand employees who work in the production areas of vehi- cles in Sumaré: “Our intention is not to lose any professional and for that we create good conditions for them to be transferred. If necessary, wewill analyse case by case”. Nearly 120 kilometers separate the two factories. AT THE LIMIT The numbers for 2017 show that Su- maré worked at the maximum limit of its nominal capacity, with results a little above it. Honda closed last year with about 130 thousand registered domestic vehicles, according to Renavam figures released by Fenabrave: approximately 48 thousand HR-V, 26 thousand Civic, 25 thousand Fit, 16 thousand City and 15 thousandWR-V . With this, the company closed the year as the country’s eighth brand in sales of automobiles and light commercials, with a 6% share. It lost, from top to bottom, for Renault, 7.7%, Toyota, 8.7%, Hyundai, 9.3%,