Auto Industry
The first motor car arrived in Brazil in November, 1891, in Santos, aboard a ship called Portugal. It was a Peugeot bought for 1,200 francs. The owner was an eighteen-year-old boy called Alberto Santos Dumont - the future Pai da Aviação (Father of Aviation) -, who had just come back from France with his family. At that time, Dumont already showed he was a man of grand vision. Cars would become the major propelling force of the worldwide economy. If in 1891 there was only one car in Brazil, in 1904, there were 84 units registered at Inspetoria de Veículos (Automobile Department). Owners were prominent people such as Antonio Prado Júnior, Ermelindo Matarazzo, Ramos de Azevedo, José Martinelli, among many others. Keeping an eye on this market, Ford decided to open a factory in Brazil in 1919. Henry Ford used to say: "The automobile will make Brazil become a great nation". Ford's first assembly line and main office were at Florêncio de Abreu, downtown.
In 1925, General Motors opened its first plant in Ipiranga. Some months later, the first Chevrolet could already be seen on the city's streets. Two years later, the company built a factory in São Caetano do Sul, in the metropolitan region. At that time, horn and engine sounds were already part of São Paulo's daily life. Roads were built throughout the state. The reflex of these initiatives was surprising: from 1920 to 1939, the number of cars jumped from 5,596 to 43,657, and that of trucks, from 222 to 25,858. Then, in 1940, the Second World War broke out, affecting imports and making the Brazilian fleet to become outdated, since the companies installed here used to manufacture only parts, not cars. It was necessary to develop the Brazilian automotive market. It was then that President Getúlio Vargas banned the import of assembled cars and posed obstacles to the import of parts. Juscelino Kubitschek, who took office on January 31, 1956, gave the first step towards the ultimate development of the auto industry by establishing GEIA - Grupo Executivo da Indústria Automobilística (Executive Group of the Auto Industry).
The first truck plant was opened in the metropolitan region of São Paulo on September 28, 1956, using domestically manufactured engines from Mercedes-Benz. Juscelino Kubitscheck participated in the ceremony. By the end of 1960, Brazil had a population of 65,755,000 inhabitants and 321,150 cars manufactured since the implementation of the Brazilian auto industry. More than 90% of auto part industries were opened in the metropolitan region, and the state of São Paulo had Latin America's largest industrial center, a significant incentive to its economic growth. The automotive revolution during the 50's brought state-of-the-art technology, jobs, industrial development and the growth of Union Trades to the state. Today, São Paulo manufactures more than one million vehicles per year.