Car manufacturer Toyota will close the parts production line in São Bernardo do Campo (ABC São Paulo) by the end of 2023.
In a statement released this Tuesday (5), the automaker says that the industrial operation of ABC will be transferred to the units of Sorocaba, Porto Feliz and Indaiatuba, all cities in São Paulo where it already operates.
The transfer, says Toyota, will be gradual, should last a year and will begin in December 2022. Toyota’s factory in São Bernardo do Campo was opened in 1962 and was the automaker’s first unit outside Japan.
In 2001, the auto parts line replaced the production of the Bandeirante utility vehicle, a jeep that ended up becoming an object of desire and stopped being manufactured because its engine exceeded the limits of the law for emission of pollutants in force since 2002.
According to Toyota, the ABC unit has about 550 employees (the ABC Metalworkers Union says there are 580) and all of them will have the option of continuing to work in the other units of the automaker.
The production of parts in São Bernardo do Campo serves assembly lines in Brazil, Argentina and the United States.
Toyota says it seeks more efficiency with the transfer of the industrial operation. “It is part of its plan in search of more competitiveness in the face of the challenges of the Brazilian market and the sustainability of its business in the country.”
The mayor of São Bernardo do Campo, Orlando Morando (PSDB), regretted the automaker’s decision. He says, in a note, that he was informed of the transfer by the company’s director of government relations, Roberto Braun, also on Tuesday.
The Japanese automaker says, in the statement posted on its website, that it has been making decisions to ensure the production of increasingly better cars.
“Several activities have been carried out in this direction, such as the renewal of the portfolio with the arrival of the Corolla Cross, the introduction of the third shift in Sorocaba, the export of engines from Porto Feliz to North America and the investment of R$ 50 million in the Indaiatuba operation, which produces the Corolla sedan.”
The ABC Metalworkers Union says it was taken by surprise with the statement and considered the company’s decision to be irresponsible.
The workers’ organization says that the possibility of closing the unit was never dealt with by the automaker which, according to the union, had been ensuring that the company’s investments in Brazil guaranteed the permanence of the factory for at least three years.
“The union is open to seek alternatives for the permanence of Toyota in São Bernardo”, said the direction of the entity, in a note.
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