AD_MAGAZINE_349

90 October 2018 | AutoData PERSPECTIVES 2019 » OTTO AND DIESEL ENGINES I t would bemore than natural to assume that the production of engines in Brazil grows at a pace similar tovehicle produc- tion, but the truth is that the acceleration in this segment has been even a little higher. The investments made in engine factories are happening intensely - today, of the big automakers installed in Brazil, onlyHyundai does not produce engines. Companies like Volkswagen, General Motors, Renault, Nissan, Ford and Toyota recently have applied good amount of re- sources in their engine factories and, this way, increased the Brazilian production figures. Cássio Pagliarini of ECTek Consultoria says that the life cycle of an engine family is much longer than a familyof vehicles, which presupposes evolutions in technology over the years and application flexibility within the same architecture: “While a vehicle factoryworkswithmo- dules from 150 thousand to 200 thousand units per year, an engine or transmission By Glauco Lucena HIGH ROTATION LINES Production of engines advances even more than vehicle production, thanks to investments in the factories plant is only feasible from 400 thousand units per year, considering full integration”. The consultant, who has previous- ly worked at Ford, Renault and Hyundai, foresees that investments in smaller and more modern engines, with turbocharger, will continue because of the newemission targets of Rota 2030. VW IS THE BIGGEST Today, the largest engine producer in Brazil is Volkswagen. Its factory in São Car- los, SP, produced 450 thousand units from January to August of this year - 110 thou- sand for export. The company’s forecast is to close the year with 600 thousand, 50% above 2017. This increase is boosted by export con- tracts for 1.4 TSI engines to Mexico, where they are installed in the Jetta and Golf mo- dels. In addition to that, its latest launches such as Polo andVirtus, have enginesmade in São Carlos. As for the FCA Group, it produced (in 2017) almost 331 thousand Firefly and Fire engines in Betim, MG, and 161 thousand E.torQ in Campo Largo, PR. The production in 2018 is at a better pace, although the exact figures have not been revealed, and “for 2019, the perspectives are optimistic because the strategic plan of the group strengthens the presence of Fiat and Jeep vehicles in LatinAmerica”, guarantees Cláu- dio Rocha, industrial powertrain director at FCA According to him, the productionwill be evenmore boosted until 2022, by the arrival of 25 brand newor updated vehicles, which will require a new engine family. General Motors sustains its expansion with a recent investment of R$ 1.9 billion at the factory in Joinville, SC, opened in 2013. The 1.0 and 1.4 liter engines that equip Chevrolet Onix and other models are pro- duced there. The expansion inaugurated this year quadrupled the area of the factory in San- ta Catarina, which jumped from 15 thou- sand m² to 62 thousand m². With the new structure the production lines go fromsix to nine and, from 2021 on, annual production