- Title: BRAZIL: President Rousseff attends auto show as luxury car makers eye Brazil
- Date: 24th October 2012
- Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (OCTOBER 24, 2012) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VARIOUS OF EXTERIORS OF BRAZIL'S ANNUAL AUTO SHOW PAVILION BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE WITH AUTO MAKERS CAMERAMAN ROUSSEFF SPEAKING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF, SAYING: "We cannot imagine that Brazil is an island and that we will not import; that is not what Inovar Auto (policy) is about. We will continue to import, but what we will not do is import above all. This country is not a single automaker. This country must be a place where we generate sustainable production chains, from the manufacturing of auto parts to the manufacturing of transmission engines, and the manufacturing of whatsoever, added to the international production, but we must have our domestic production." CAMERAMAN (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) BRAZIL'S PRESIDENT DILMA ROUSSEFF, SAYING: "It is not reasonable to believe that our country is not capable of developing scientific and technological knowledge in the auto sector. It is not reasonable for us to agree to a loss both in terms of technology and goods." VARIOUS OF ROUSSEFF AND CAR MAKER EXECUTIVES WALKING THROUGH AUTO SHOW PHOTOGRAPHER VARIOUS OF ROUSSEFF ENTERING A CAR ON DISPLAY CAMERA VARIOUS OF ROUSSEFF PLAYING ON A RACING VIDEOGAME VARIOUS OF AUTO PARTS ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF ROUSSEFF POSING FOR PHOTOS NEXT TO A CAR
- Embargoed: 8th November 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Brazil
- Country: Brazil
- Topics: Business,Economic News,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA9Z2UUBD99RBWX85TCNZWK52HI
- Story Text: Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff attends Sao Paulo's annual auto show and says new government policies will help protect the domestic car industry from imports.
Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff said on Wednesday (October 24) that her latest policies governing the country's auto industry would reduce the weight of imported vehicles in the world's fourth largest car market.
A steep tax hike on imported cars and auto parts, aimed at protecting jobs in Brazil's auto industry, has accelerated some investments in the country and scrambled plans for others.
Rousseff's comments came during a visit to Sao Paulo's annual auto show, where she met local and foreign executives of the sector.
The government has handed broad tax incentives to the auto industry to prevent layoffs and jump-start a struggling manufacturing sector that dragged down the Brazilian economy to a near standstill. The auto sector makes up more than a fifth of the country's industrial output and 5 percent of its economy.
Rousseff said the government's policies would help stimulate and protect the domestic auto industry.
"We cannot imagine that Brazil is an island and that we will not import; that is not what Inovar Auto (policy) is about. We will continue to import, but what we will not do is import above all. This country is not a single automaker. This country must be a place where we generate sustainable production chains, from the manufacturing of auto parts to the manufacturing of transmission engines, and the manufacturing of whatsoever, added to the international production, but we must have our domestic production," she said.
Rousseff said that it was time for Brazilian auto industry to develop its own technology.
"It is not reasonable to believe that our country is not capable of developing scientific and technological knowledge in the auto sector. It is not reasonable for us to agree to a loss both in terms of technology and goods," she said.
The cut in the so-called IPI tax results in reducing the price to consumers by about 7 percent. The government helped boost car sales in May with the tax reduction, leading to record new automobile sales in August.
But repeated renewals of the tax cuts -- previously valid through the end of October -- have had diminishing returns, and auto sales slumped in September.
Car production levels have been slower to recover, as the industry focused on clearing inventories from the first half of the year.
Several carmakers are eyeing Brazil's luxury car market which has grown nearly sevenfold in five years. One of them is Japan's Honda Motor Co, which announced this week that it would begin selling its Acurabrand in Brazil in 2015. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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