BrazilAutomotiveGuide_2021

119 Janeiro 2021 | AutoData | Brazil Automtive Guide The principal independent manufacturers of diesel engines – Cummins, FPT e MWM – were anxiously looking forward to 2020 to step on the gas pedal. However, reality turned out to be very different: the three of them are projecting a reduction in volume originating from the Covid-19 crisis. The presidents of these companies disclosed to AutoData that in 2021 things could get better. However, they did not reach a consensus concerning projections. José Eduardo Luzzi, president of MWM, was the most optimistic one: “We expect an increase of a full 35% in our production”. Luis Pasquotto, who presides Cummins, is also betting on expansion, but stopped short of pinpointing a figure for it, “because it is as if we were driving amid a fog”; likewise Marco Rangel, president of FPT, who did not disclose his numbers for 2021. The reasoning behind a higher production level for next year comes from the positive outlook of the agribusiness, which is experiencing strong demand for products that carry its engines, and which is expected to further grow. And also in the demand for power generation, a segment which relies on stationary engines for diesel generating sets provided by the three companies and which has proved vital to offset the losses recorded in other segments, such as vehicles. The three companies will go through 2020 with difficulties, but results could bring a surprise vis-à-vis the catastrophe brought about by the pandemic. Luzzi, from MWM, believes that there will be a decrease of 20% in his company’s production, but sales should go up by 4%: “It will be an atypical year”. In the case of Cummins, the forecast is for an 18% reduction in production in 2020, compared to 2019, according to Pasquotto: “We will have a reduction in production, sad to say, but we are coming back at a very good pace. In October, we produced more than before the pandemic, even though this upswing won’t be enough to offset volumes already lost”. Rangel, from FPT, disclosed that in the second half of 2020 production in his company has been operating at volumes similar to those experienced before the pandemic, even though in itself this will be insufficient to make up for the losses suffered during the first half of the year. verdade, mas estamos voltando em bom ritmo. Em outubro produzimos mais do que antes da pande- mia, mas essa retomada não compensará o que já perdemos”. Rangel, da FPT, contou que no segundo semestre de 2020 a produção da companhia retomou volume parecido como de antes da pandemia, mas que isso, por si só, tambémnão será suficiente para compensar as perdas registradas durante o primeiro semestre. After the decline brought about by the 2020 pandemics, manufacturers are optimistic concerning 2021 Hamik/shutterstock