GM’s Next Investment In Brazil To Include EV Production

Shortly after announcing plans for new investments in the country and giving a first indication about its electrification strategy, a senior GM South America executive has just revealed that the company’s next investment in Brazil will include the production of electric vehicles.

The vice president of communications for the automaker’s South American subsidiary confirmed to Automotive Business that GM’s next investment cycle in Brazil will include resources for the production of electric vehicles in the country – whose operations are part of the global strategy to produce only electric vehicles by 2035. According to the executive, the official announcement of the investment will be made during the next calendar year.

“We have a goal of producing only electric cars in the world by 2035 and this includes Brazil. Today, we don’t have hybrid projects in the country, but that doesn’t mean we’re not evaluating it, while we’re in this moment of transition to pure electric,” said Vice President of Communications and Government Relations at GM South America, Fábio Rua. “What we can say is that our cars, even combustion ones, will be more efficient from an energy point of view,” he added.

This is the first time GM has revealed that it has concrete plans to produce zero-emission vehicles in Brazil, where it operates three vehicle factories and a dedicated powertrain plant. The company’s local team of engineers is already collaborating on the development of next-generation electric vehicles in conjunction with the engineering center in the United States and had announced that it seeks to become a pioneer in the manufacturing of EVs in Brazil.

So far, no automotive company has officially announced investments to produce electric vehicles in Brazil – a country specialized in manufacturing mainly economy cars and compact pickups. However, during the second half of this decade, the South American giant could become an important production and export hub for electric vehicles, key to increasing the volume scale of GM’s zero-emissions technology.

Although there are still no details on the future electric vehicles that GM plans to manufacture in Brazil, it is likely that the eventual production of EVs in that country will focus on compact cars and entry-level crossovers from the Chevrolet brand to supply the main Latin American markets. Additionally, GM Brazil operations could also host the production of Ultium Battery modules and Ultium Drive electric motors.

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