Mercedes-Benz announced this Tuesday (6th) a restructuring of its truck and bus chassis factory in São Bernardo do Campo (SP), which will result in the dismissal of 3,600 workers, and the outsourcing of part of the operation.
Mercedes-Benz Caminhões e Ônibus attributed the measure to cost pressure and the transformation of the automotive industry, which made it necessary to focus more on the “core business”, defined as the manufacture of bus and truck chassis and the development of technologies and services for the future.
The production of components such as front axles and medium transmission and logistics, maintenance and tooling services are among the activities that will be carried out by contracted companies.
“We are ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Mercedes-Benz Caminhões e Ônibus business in Brazil,” the automaker said in a statement.
The company will lay off approximately 2,200 workers at the plant, its first in the country —opened in 1956—and Daimler’s largest plant outside Germany for Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicles. And around 1,400 professionals will not have their temporary contracts renewed as of December 2022.
The Metalworkers Union of Grande ABC said that its directors met with the Mercedes-Benz board this afternoon, when company representatives asked for the opening of negotiations on these topics. The factory has 6,000 workers in production and between 8,000 and 9,000 in total, according to the entity.
A meeting of the union’s board of directors with the workers was scheduled for Thursday (8) at 2 pm.
“Clarifications and press releases by the union and its management will only be made after a conversation and assembly with the plant workers,” the union said through its press office.
Mercedes-Benz had already put 600 workers on collective vacations in São Bernardo do Campo (SP) at the beginning of the year due to the lack of electronic components. Mercedes also has a truck factory in Juiz de Fora (MG).
DISMISSALS ACCUMULATED, ELECTRICATION ON RADAR
In recent years, the state of São Paulo has faced a series of closures, or restructurings, in automakers’ factories.
In 2019, there was the demobilization of the Ford factory in São Bernardo do Campo, before the announcement of the automaker’s departure from the country, in 2021. Last year Mercedes-Benz itself sold a plant in Iracemápolis, where luxury cars were produced, China’s Great Wall Motors.
In April of this year, Toyota decided to close its factory in São Bernardo do Campo, the first outside Japan. Caoa Cherry announced in May the interruption of vehicle production at its main plant in the country, in Jacareí, to adapt the unit to the production of hybrid and electric cars.
Mercedes-Benz said on Tuesday that “the market has become more dynamic than ever and competitiveness in this industry will continue to intensify, especially considering the transformation of traditional technologies to new forms of propulsion”.
The company is expected to start assembling its first electric bus in Brazil at the end of this year and has estimated demand for electric buses in Brazil of around 3,000 vehicles by 2024.
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