US based truck maker Navistar's South American subsidiary, International Industria Automotiva da America (IIAA), has started commercial truck production at the company's manufacturing facility in the Navistar Industrial Complex, Canoas in Rio Grande Do Sul, Brazil.
The new 40,000sqm facility will have a capacity to produce 5,000 trucks per year that is expected to grow.
The plant is already used as a parts distribution center as well as for manufacturing diesel engines for MWM-International, Brazilian subsidiary of Navistar.
Navistar Global Truck and Engine president Eric Tech said with the MWM engine business, the company expects to support its future in Brazil as it begins truck manufacturing operations in Canoas.
"Our business in Brazil has served as a great model for our global growth efforts," Tech added.
According to the company, the start of the current facility in Canoas has enabled them to avoid investment required by a greenfield project.
During the last three years, the manufacturer had invested over $200m in Brazil for manufacturing operations, research and development, an emissions change from EURO-III to EURO-V standards and new product launches for the Brazilian truck market.
