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21 AutoData | June 2018 global competition. And so it meets Ford’s exclusive demand in the United States: axle shaft for the Super Duty F-450 pickup truck, impressive 3.5-ton load capacity thanks to the dual-wheel drive on the rear axle. Since 2016 the Brazilian unit has sent the component to the US market, join- tly designed by the team of Brazilian and Ford’s headquarters engineers. In the commercial aspect, the initiative repre- sents an opportunity to participate in a large volume business: the F Series pickup trucks account for the largest share of the automaker’s sales in its homeland. In the four months period 287 thousand unitswere traded, a 4% increase compared to the same period last year. The F-Series sales show, according to Ford’s balance, twelve consecutive months of growth - and this April was the best since 2000with 73 thousand units. The positive scenario, according to Luís Pedro Ferreira, director of international is- sues at Dana of Brazil, analyses situation that leaves the company less exposed to variations of the internal market: “It is important because it gives us business alternatives in other regions and streng- thens the export profile of the Brazilian operation “. There is another relevant aspect: the professional qualification. Ferreira says that the work of the Brazilian engineers was determining so the unit stayed one step ahead in the dispute for the contract. “Conquering and maintaining a busi- ness this big is also a validation of com- petitiveness and competence, which goes beyond the stereotypes associated with Brazil and against all the vectors that afflict manufacturing in the country, since struc- tural costs, energy, rawmaterials and labor until the tax challenges, besides the own exchange oscillations.” Aside from issues related to the pro- duct, Dana had changes in its structure to produce the new axle shaft: the company invested R$ 125 million in equipment pur- chases to compose new production line, in addition to expenditures in R&D.