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15 AutoData | July 2018 Disclousure/Toyota Sorocaba factory: they are NAL do Bra- sil, responsible for the LEDs of the most equipped versions of themodel, and Hilex, which produces transmission cables. The proximity of the factorywas another point well thought by the automakerwhen selecting the suppliers - and this concern was still justified with the recent truckers’ strike, which interrupted the production of the entire Brazilian automotive industry at the end of May. According to Simomura, 63 of the 72 suppliers of Yaris are in the State of São Paulo - there are five more in Minas Gerais, three in Paraná and one in Rio Grande do Sul: “From 70% to 80% of the auto parts volume comes from the supplier park in Sorocaba.” Toyota plans to produce 78.6 thousand Yaris per year, distributed in 46.2 thousand hatches and 32.4 thousand sedans. All content will be directed to the do- mestic market because, at first, there is no plan for exports. Toyota believes that Brazilians will demand all the production, Twenty years later... The year was 1998 and walking through the aisles of the Geneva Motor Show, today the AutoData publisher, Márcio Stéfani found something curious: in one corner of the Toyota’s booths was exposed, without any fanfare, a 1.0 engine compact model. There it was a car named Yaris which the engine intended to meet the profile of the Brazilian market - but the model would be launched firstly in Japan, a company common practice. About a year later the phone rings at AutoData newsroom: A US consultant from Toyota was looking for more information about the local market to prepare the launch of Yaris here. Personally attended, he heard that the compact maybe would not make sense to our market at that moment by decreases as a reflection of the international crisis of Asia and Russia, which caused a strong devaluation of our currency. It was clear that continuing with Corolla, manufactured in Indaiatuba since the end of that year, sounded more logical. Coincidence or not Yaris comes to Brazil only now, twenty years later. An important detail: that consultant subscribed to AutoData and followed as a faithful reader for more than a decade. Christian Castanho

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