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The recognition of Fiat Automóveis as a
brand that has widened the Brazilian
consumer's access to products with increased
technology and new design solutions is due
in a large part to the "Polo de
Desenvolvimento Giovanni Agnelli". |
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Fiat has long been
recognised in Brazil by the innovation and technological
content of its cars. The recognition of Fiat Automóveis
as a brand that has widened the Brazilian consumer's
access to products with increased technology and new
design solutions is due in a large part to the
"Polo de Desenvolvimento Giovanni Agnelli",
which is considered the most advanced automotive
technology centre in the Latin American country.
Inaugurated in 2003, it is the
most complete development centre of Fiat outside Italy. The
name,
Polo de Desenvolvimento Giovanni Agnelli,
was chosen in honour of the man who cemented Fiat’s presence
in Brazil. Agnelli, who died in February 2003, participated
in the first negotiations for the arrival of Fiat's
manufacturing operations in Brazil in the beginning of the
1970s.
The
Polo de Desenvolvimento Giovanni Agnelli
has been receiving constant investment to ensure that Fiat
Automóveis has full the full ability to carry out the
integral development of new vehicles, through the management
of design concept through to the manufacturing of prototypes
as well as carrying out testing to develop and validate new
technical solutions.
Its construction
and fitting out absorbed an initial investment of R$400
million (130 million euro). Since then, it has been
receiving successive investments into its structure. It now
counts on 800 engineers and technicians that work in synergy
with Fiat's headquarters in Italy.
"The Investments
in research and development of new products shows that Fiat
has been thinking again of the future, to ensure a steady
market share with products developed with the most modern
technology," declared the President of Fiat in Latin
America, Mr. Cledorvino Belini.
This centre of
development is comparable with the most advanced facilities
in the world in the car industry, and it is equipped with
last generation laboratories which are able to carry out
dynamic tests and real scale simulations in order to develop
vehicles that boast integral quality, sustainability,
innovation and safety.
The structure of
the complex comprises all the specific areas for the
development of a car: design, project and experimental
engineering. The design centre is under the responsibility
of Peter Fassbender, and features a state of the art virtual
room laboratory for prototype development in either 2D or
3D. This facility received an investment of R$ 3 millions (1
million euro), and it is the most modern in Brazil. In
addition, the design centre has a complete modelling area
that allows the construction of models in 1:1 scale.
The project area
employs 120 engineers that are able to conduct every type of
simulation test regarding the production process, optimising
the developing time while keeping to the same level of
reliability. In addition, there is a complete structure for
project management support, testing the parameters of
quality, cost and time. The experimental
engineering area meanwhile has a complete laboratory centre,
comprising: electromagnetic compatibility, electroacoustic,
photometry, CAN (Campus Area Network), simulation road test,
bodyshell twisting bank, climatic chamber, NVH (Noise,
Vibration and Harshness) and material engineering.
The
Polo de Desenvolvimento Giovanni Agnelli
helps to consolidate the importance of Fiat Automóveis as
the main development centre of the Italian group in Latin
America. The total volume of investments, including the
increase in the capacity of production of Betim unit up to
800,000 vehicles a year until 2010, has reached a total of
R$5 billions (1.62 billion euro).
"Fiat retains
its trust in Brazil and Latin America as a strategic region
for the future of the motor vehicle industry and it keeps
investing in Brazil with the aim of ensuring its leading
position in all the markets in which it is present," added
Belini.
by Claudio
Perlini
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