Mercedes-Benz closes factory shift in SP for 2 months – 05/04/2023 – Market

The Mercedes-Benz bus and truck chassis factory in São Bernardo do Campo, in São Paulo, will reduce production shifts from two to one starting in May, the local metallurgist union informed this Wednesday (5) .

The single shift production will last from two to three months, informed the ABC Metallurgist Union.

The entity pointed out that the automaker had already announced to workers collective vacations for 300 employees also in early April, in addition to short weeks of work.

Mercedes-Benz has around 8,000 workers at the factory, 6,000 on the production line, 2,000 of whom work in the second shift.

Sought by Reuters, the automaker did not respond until the publication of this text.

Mercedes-Benz cited to the union that there are several reasons for the reduction in production, among them, a drop in demand, shortage of parts and high interest rates in the country.

According to the entity, the automaker released a bulletin to workers about the need to reduce the production program for 2023 and adopt a single shift at the factory.

In 2022, there was a movement in the country of anticipation of purchases of trucks due to the transition from the norm of pollutant emissions to the Euro 6 standard.

According to data from the association of vehicle distributors, Fenabrave, sales of new trucks in Brazil fell 7.3% in March over the same month last year, to around 9,400 units.

“It is urgent to open new BNDES financing modalities and lower the interest rate […] for the recovery of the sector. High interest rates harm growth, prevent the improvement of production and the creation of jobs, with harmful effects on the truck and auto parts sector”, said the executive director of the Union, Aroaldo Oliveira da Silva, in a press release.

“We are already in a negotiation process with the company to evaluate the possible and necessary measures. We are going to think about the next steps and the alternatives to get through this period”, said the director.