General Motors São José dos Campos, São Paulo, Brazil Plant

The General Motors São José dos Campos facility, officially known as Complexo Industrial de São José dos Campos (Industrial Complex of São José dos Campos) is located in the city of São José dos Campos, Vale do Paraíba metropolitan region, São Paulo (state), Brazil. It currently produces various Chevrolet vehicles and propulsion systems for the Brazilian and South American markets.

• Year opened: 1958
• Operations:
  • Vehicle assembly (light vehicles)
  • Powertrain assembly
    • Two engine assembly lines
    • One transmission line
  • One stamping plant
  • One line for plastic injectors
  • One line for painting
• Facility size: 500,000 m² on 2.7 million m²
• Address:
  Rodovia Presidente Dutra
  Km 143/144, S/N – Eugênio de Melo
  São José dos Campos – SP
  12224-300
  Brazil
• Telefone: +55 12 3908-3101
• Employee information: TBD
• Production capacity:
  • Powertrain:
    • 100 transmissions per hour and 88 engines per hour
    • 2,800 per day, 61,600 per month, 618,000 units annually (combined engines and transmissions)
  • Vehicle capacity: TBD

Products

The GM São José dos Campos factory produces the following items:

• Chevrolet S10 with 2.5L Ecotec gasoline engine and 2.8L Turbodiesel engine
• Chevrolet Traiblazer with 3.6L V-6 gasoline engine and 2.8L Turbodiesel engine

Historic Timeline & Milestones

• Early 1950s: GM seeks out a piece of land near the Central do Brasil railroad along the Presidente Dutra Highway and along the São Paulo-Rio de Janeiro axis to build a factory that would produce truck engines, a product for which the country was showing high demand at the time.
• 1953: GM purchases land in 1953.
• March 10, 1959: factory officially inaugurated, with then-President of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira present and first GM-Chevrolet engine is manufactured in Brazil.
• 1956 – 1957: the government’s GEIA (Automotive Industry Executive Group) approves the first GM Brazil nationalization project. The group was formed to control the implementation and development of the country’s auto industry; the goal was to manufacture the Chevrolet Heavy Duty and Light Duty trucks, prompting the launch of the Chevrolet pickup, which became known as “Marta Rocha” for its blue and white color scheme, and the famous composition “skirt and blouse”. It was in response to this nationalization project that GM Brazil established a notable presence in São José dos Campos, setting up part casting operations for the production of its engines, at the time considered a pioneering process. The first engine produced was an inline six-cylinder motor 261 cubic inches (4.2 linters) in displacement. The plant’s capacity was 25,000 engines per year at that time.
• 1975: Detroit Diesel Allison do Brasil began manufacturing diesel engines.
• 1979: plant converted to produce automotive engines in order to meet increasing vehicle demands.
• 1980: plant commenced a $500 million, four year expansion program.
• 1985: $500 million, four-year investment program commenced, at which point the GM Brazil product line was offered with alcohol-fueled engines.
• 1991: $1 billion five-year plan was announced to expand the facility and add a new line of passenger cars.
• February 3, 2017: GM São José dos Campos industrial complex commemorates production of its 12 millionth engine.

Environment

According to GM, the São José dos Campos complex “has always been committed to the preservation of the environment” and has an advanced effluent treatment plant and air filters to avoid pollution.

Pictures

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