Car plant in Brazil

US auto giant General Motors is to build a new engine and automotive components plant in Joinville City in Brazil at a cost of around $200m.

The plant, which will employ 500 people and generate 1,300 indirect jobs, is scheduled to begin production in the fourth quarter of 2009.

'The decision to build a new engine plant in Brazil is essential to our ability to expand vehicle production capacity throughout the region,' said Jaime Ardila, president of General Motors Brazil.

The facility will be approximately 500,000m², with the plant itself comprising an area of approximately 60,000m². The plant will have the capability to produce 120,000 engines and 50,000 cylinder heads per year and will operate on three shifts when it is running at full capacity.

This month, General Motors also announced that its sales in Latin America, Africa and Middle East hit an all-time record in the first quarter this year. The company sold 323,400 vehicles, up 52,900 over the same quarterly period in 2007.