Internationalization and geographical relocation of Brazil’s auto parts industry

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the process of denationalization and geographical relocation of Brazil’s auto parts industry. A survey of data provided by industry associations and specialized publications and information from the authors’ previous research projects were employed to analyze the relationship between automakers and their suppliers. It is possible to attest that Brazil’s auto parts industry has undergone a process of denationalization in the wake of its international reorganization, which has led to its being included in discussions about the deindustrialization phenomenon. The demands placed by automakers, coupled with the ease of importing auto parts, have hampered the operations of domestic-capital ompanies in this sector, which has caused many of them to be acquired by multinationals. At the same time, it has been observed the entry of new investments from automakers, both those established decades ago as newer entrants, which have installed new plants in regions with little or no background in this activity. This has led to a shift in the geographic location of this industry in Brazil, followed by that of the auto parts companies