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15 11.5 to 11.10.2018 Auto’s substitute should have been in force since last year. If the program was already in progress we would have more new projects than these to announce now.”  According to the executive, the Brazilian factory participated in an internal competition of the global BMW to receive production of other models, but without an automotive policy defined in Brazil it lost the dispute to another unit in the world, which he did not want to reveal. “We lost time and, because of that, we lost projects.” In 2018, Araquari is expected to produce 10 thousand units (far below 2017) when it produced 15 thousand helped by a contract to export to the United States. Anyway, the unit currently accounts for 65% of BMW’s sales in Brazil, an index that may slightly fall in 2019 by the transition period from the current generation of Series 3 to the next one: the model will come to the market imported from Germany in the first half of next year. Other premium brands - In the Salão do Automóvel, only BMW highlighted its Brazilian operation. Audi and Mercedes-Benz only emphasized imported models and Jaguar Land Rover did not even participate in the show. Regarding Audi, its president and CEO Johannes Roscheck has complained for the lack of definition on Rota 2030 as well, which has even specific mechanisms for manufacturers in the luxury segment. “The new automotive regime creates the basis for premium vehicles domestic production. Without it, it is unfeasible due to the low volume “- Audi should close the year at the range of 6 thousand units produced in São José dos Pinhais, PR, being that the production capacity there is 25 thousand units. Roscheck said that Audi “is studying hard” to nationalize more models in Paraná, but will wait for Rota’s definitions to make any decision about it - the promised use of IPI credits that have left from Inovar-Auto (one of the items in Rota 2030) is also waiting to be approved by the National Congress of Brazil. The executive even complained about the automotive trade rules with Argentina. “Mercosur does not work, it’s an illusion because each market has a minimum local content that we can’t reach because of our low-volume production characteristic. Argentina is next door and even the models we sell there are imported from Europe. It’s an absurd.” As for Mercedes Benz, the president Philipp Schiemer did not participated in the Salão do Automóvel press conference. The company presents eight launches at the Salão do Automóvel, all imported models.