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12 FROM THE TOP » ANTONIO MEGALE, ANFAVEA August 2018 | AutoData “We have to do the researches on ethanol here, in Brazil, because our headquarters do not know how to do it and they do not want to do it. They do not believe in it.” The incentives for R&D also contempla- te the assembly lines’ modernization. Isn’t there a risk of distortion for this purpose here, in other words, to see automakers applying resources only in the factories? No, because it is not just any kind of in- vestment in line modernization, only the ones specifically linked to the Industry 4.0. The government had the right per- ception and understood that we can’t have old lines. We will have to impro- ve, it’s a competitiveness issue. It goes through a process that goes beyond automation: putting the machines to talk to each other, before and after the manufacturing process, everything in- terconnected, and this demands a lot of money, it is not cheap. It was another important role of the government as a technologic inductor, it was a very po- sitive point. We also need to mention the incentive for tools development in Brazil, equally contemplated. And nothing for trucks and buses in Rota? There is nothing about energy efficiency goals regarding heavy vehicles in the world, even with some discussions about it. There are goals for CO2 emis- sion, but not for efficiency. The Proconve will continue, normally. What is foreseen is that during the first Rota’s cycle an implementation schedule of an energy efficiency program for heavy vehicles will be discussed, probably from the second cycle. Remembering that diesel is included in Rota, the pickup trucks are part of the energy efficiency. And The biofuel is an extraordinary alterna- tive for us, it is a neutral system in emis- sions and theoreticallywe already have a competitive advantage compared to the rest of the world. But we need to go forward, study more, research, im- prove the engines, gain more efficiency regarding ethanol. We have to do this here, in Brazil, because our headquar- ters don’t know how to do it and they don’t want to do it. They don’t believe in it. Europe has no choice, they must produce electric vehicles there. I am sure that if any European country had the possibility that we have they would privilege it. We have the solution of the biofuels here in Brazil, we must explore it, but it demands money. We need this sense of development: the companies always have their focus on obtaining profit for their production, obviously, but the center of R&D needs a source of funds for a more pure research. In the future we may have hydrogen fuel cells, which can be obtained from ethanol. And is Rota the inductor that was mis- sing for this? Exactly. This is one of the good things in Rota: it brings an energy efficiency goal to achieve. Thenyouwill takeyour engineers and say: howarewe going to achieve this and what are the options? And in Brazil, by the price of the electric and hybrid vehicles, it is impossible to think that in five years you will have 25% of the cars with these technologies. Then calcula- tions for themix compositionwill be done, applying technology in the vehicles to improve the efficiency, and not only in 10% of the line but, let’s say, in 50%. And this, evenwith the reduction of the IPI (tax) for hybrids and electrics? Yes. Another good thing about the hy- brids in Rota is that the government listened to our suggestion and gave an initial discount of 2 points in the IPI percentage for the flex fuel hybrids, so- mething that must stimulate the arrival of this technology.