FCA Latin America has opened a second development centre in Recife, capital of the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, according to media reports. The facility is 44 miles (71 km) from the company's newest plant and joins development centres in Turin, Italy, in Auburn Hills, United States, and in Betim, Brazil. The new facility will reportedly have four units. The first is dedicated to powertrain engineering and is set to employ 220 workers. Investment reportedly totals BRL140 million (USD35 million), with 500 jobs created. Along with powertrain engineering, facilities for design, testing, and a proving ground are planned.
Significance: The new development centre will support one of FCA's most significant regions, where its market share is shrinking under competition. Production of the Toro truck, which uses the same Small/SUSW platform as the Jeep Renegade, also built in Recife, is forecast to run at nearly 30,000 units per year through the decade, with Renegade output at about 75,000/year for the first few years but slipping below 70,000 by the end of the decade. The third product due at Recife is Jeep's upcoming all-new C-segment SUV. This will replace both the Patriot and Compass for markets where these are sold. Jeep Compass sales in Brazil have been extremely low-volume but the new C-CUV will be a much more significant product, in part enabled by the localised production.
