The NBR group, led by businessman Evandro Lira, is going to build an automaker of popular and compact vehicles made of fiberglass and carbon in Araripina, Pernambuco. The initial investment — which includes the renovation of a castor oil factory deactivated in the 1990s — is R$260 million in three years, but can reach R$1 billion in five years.

The cars will have modular platforms, which can be adapted to different models. “This allows a reduction of between 30% and 40% in costs, which substantially impacts the price for the final consumer,” NBR’s CEO Evandro Lira said.

According to Mr. Lira’s view, Brazil lacks mass-market models. The first to be manufactured by NBR will be a dune buggy-style vehicle, with a flex engine, which can, according to the customer’s wishes, have a closed top. The vehicle holds five people and has a trunk. “The decision was to reinvent a typical Brazilian model, from the 70’s, the dune buggy, which until today is only produced by hand, without an assembly line,” he said.

According to him, to adapt a common vehicle to the buggy model, an investment of at least R$80,000 on the part of the consumer is required. “With the product getting cheaper, we will serve well the Northeast region, which already has a natural demand for this style of beach car,” he said.

With prices between R$60,000 and R$80,000, the vehicles will be sold in stores to be opened in Recife, Natal, Fortaleza, Florianópolis and São Paulo, in addition to approved dealers.

Mr. Lira has a background in the service sector, with several traditional businesses in the restaurant sector in the states of Paraíba and Pernambuco. According to him, the NBR group is raising part of the funds with Banco do Nordeste and Sudene. “We are also negotiating with an U.S.-based fund,” he said.

The Araripina unit will have capacity to make 1,600 cars a month. During an event to launch the cornerstone of the factory on Thursday, in Recife, Mr. Lira said that the first car is expected to reach the market in 18 months. As of 2024, he foresees a R$94 million monthly turnover.

According to Mr. Lira, the company will work with engines from Brazil, China and India. As they are light vehicles, with a chassis made of fiberglass and carbon, the models could deliver 30% savings in fuel consumption compared to a traditional mass-market car. “In the future, we will work with hybrid and electric vehicles,” he said.

The distribution of the production will be done primarily by road, but may also rely on sea freight. The factory is located within a radius of 300 kilometers from seven states in the Northeast region, about 600 kilometers from the Port of Suape (Pernambuco) and 700 kilometers from the Port of Pecém (Ceará).

The unit, which will be supplied by a solar plant, will be built in an area of 29 hectares and have 30,000 square meters of built area. In the construction stage, the work is expected to employ 240 people. The operation is expected to start with 450 people working in two shifts.

The arrival of the automaker is expected to have a major impact on the economy of Araripina, whose GDP is estimated at R$1.3 billion a year – about 1.7% of the GDP of the entire state of Pernambuco. According to Mayor Raimundo Pimentel (Social Liberal Party, PSL), the city’s economy today is quite dependent on the production of plaster for civil construction.

The NBR group is negotiating a partnership with the government of Pernambuco and the S System, a group of tax-funded training entities operated by employers’ trade groups, to train up to 1,000 people in Araripina in the fields of fiberglass and carbon lamination, electrical, mechanical, assembly and bodywork.

Source: Valor International

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