This paper is concerned with opportunities for activities of product development carried out by subsidiaries of the four biggest car makers based in Brazil: General Motors, Ford, Volkswagen and Fiat. The point made here is that the global strategies pursued by the car makers may not weaken the product development capability of their Brazilian subsidiaries. Empirical findings we have made up to now support this point. Based on interviews with the Brazilian subsidiaries, two distinct trajectories and product strategies are observed. Both General Motors and Fiat, adopting local product policies associated with partly decentralized global strategies, have increased their product activities and engineering staff in Brazil, strengthening their local capabilities in product development. In another direction, Ford, and to some extend Volkswagen, pursuing more centralized strategies of product development, have downsized the R&D area and engineering staff in their Brazilian subsidiaries.
brazilian automotive industry; product development capability; product strategy; capability
