Márcio de Lima Leite assumes the presidency of Anfavea

Lawyer Márcio de Lima Leite is the new president of Anfavea (association of automakers). The inauguration ceremony took place on the morning of this Monday (2), in São Paulo. A new event will take place this Tuesday (3), in Brasília.

The idea is to be present at the center of power, in a movement of approximation with the executive and legislative powers. The organization claims to be non-partisan.

Leite is the legal and institutional relations director of the Stellantis group in South America. The lawyer has been with the company since June 2000, when he joined Fiat. Those were different times, even before the merger of the Italian brand with Chrysler, which was consolidated in early 2014.

The lawyer replaces Luiz Carlos Moraes, who is the director of corporate communication and institutional relations at Mercedes-Benz do Brasil.

Moraes said he hopes the new president will find less difficult times ahead.

The former president took over Anfavea in 2019, when the automotive sector was going through a period of recovery. However, the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting supply and demand problems brought the industry to a halt again.

In his inaugural speech, Leite stated that products made in Brazil can compete in any market. “We managed to produce the state of the art since the extraction of iron ore”, said the new president.

One point that is being discussed with the government is the change in the profile of the production chain — to become an export hub, it will be necessary to produce technologies aimed at electrification.

The executive preferred to speak impromptu, did not bring a closed speech. He sought to praise the national industry. According to Leite, the national automotive sector involves 98 thousand suppliers in the segments of light vehicles, buses, trucks, road implements and agricultural machinery.

The new president briefly told the story of his family, marked by the loss of his father in 1976. The executive was then five years old and lived in Betim (MG), where the Fiat factory had just been built.

He said it was the industry that made his family’s life better.

His personal story, interspersed with moments of humor and stories related to the Atlético Mineiro club, served as a basis for talking about the importance of the country’s industrial recovery. This more informal — and even emotional — tone should mark Anfavea’s new management.

“I had a speech of about 18 pages, but I opted for informality”, said Leite.

“We represent 20% of the industrial GDP, but we are not mathematicians. Behind there are universities, education.”

Leite’s original speech addressed topics such as the use of ethanol as a decarbonization strategy and the production capacity of the automotive industry, currently estimated at 4 million units. By the numbers of the first four months, the factories operate with about 50% of their potential.

147,256 units were sold in the last month, up 0.3% compared to March, which had two more business days. The data are based on Renavan (National Registry of Motor Vehicles).

Compared to April 2021, there was a 15.9% drop in vehicle sales. The first four months ended with 552,924 licensed units, which means a retraction of 21.4% compared to the same period last year.

Leite stated that the great challenge is to make the supply chain and investments follow the global technological routes, which would make it possible to export not only to South America.

This already occurs, for example, with the agricultural machinery sector. The speech of the new president was influenced by the visit to Agrishow, a fair held in Ribeirão Preto (São Paulo countryside) last week.

The new president of Anfavea said he still believes in a tax reform, a theme that predominates in the entity’s conversations with the government.

“We have talked a lot with the government, we need to accelerate tax reform so that Brazil becomes competitive,” said the new president. “The reduction in the tax burden is commendable, and what the government has shown that there will be an end to the IPI [Imposto sobre Produtos Industrializados].”

One of the plans of Leite’s management is the creation of a fleet renewal program for light vehicles, which would move the factories. It is an old dream of Anfavea, nourished since the 1990s.

However, in addition to the difficulties of implementing a program of this size, there is now the increase in car prices added to the increase in financing rates.

“We need to make the car accessible to the lower classes. It is unthinkable to have an interest rate of 27% per year for those who take credit”, said Leite. “But as things get back to normal, the market should grow.”