By Redação AutoIndústria | Translated by Jorge Meditsch
Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus and the VW Group Argentina announced they will assemble heavy vehicles in the neighboring country. A new 15 thousand square meters plant, to be inaugurated in 2024, will be located at the Cordoba Industrial Center, where VW produces transmissions for automobiles and, since this December, the Ducati Scrambler 803cc motorcycle.
The CKD assembly operation project includes the Delivery 9.170 and 11.180 trucks, The Constellation 17.280 rigid and tractor-trailer and the Volksbus 15.190 OD bus chassis, all of them already present in the Argentinian market as imports.
VWCO did not comment on the news. Nonetheless, the Argentinian press says an additional US$ 50 million investment is to be added to the US$ 250 million announced last May by VW Argentina for the period between 2022 and 2026.
The estimation is to start with 1.2 thousand units annually and reach 3 thousand by 2025.
The announcement was made by Roberto Cortes, CEO and president of VWCO, in a meeting last Wednesday, 12/14, with Argentina’s Economy minister, Sergio Massa, with the participation of José Ignacio de Mendiguren, Industry and Productive Development secretary, Marcellus Puig, VW Group Argentina’s CEO, Mario Manrique, adjunct secretary of the SMATA metalworkers union, and Marco Saltini, Institutional Relations and Sustainability director.
“Next year, our brand will complete 25 years in Argentina, which is our most important export destination in South America”, said Cortes. “We currently have a well-succeeded commercial operation between our companies, with shared management and a local dealer network. Nothing better than celebrate this anniversary with such a special announcement, which will also strengthen our internalization strategy”.
Besides Resende, RJ, VWCO also has an industrial operation in Querétaro, Mexico, and assembly partnerships in Pinetown, South Africa, and Manila, Philippines, as well as engines in São Paulo.
