GM to Make $450 Million Investment in Argentina

General Motors announces a $450 million investment at its Rosario Automotive Complex in Santa Fe, Argentina, another sign of the auto industry’s positive outlook for the growing South American market.

The investment will occur between 2013 and 2015 and pave the way for an all-new global Chevrolet vehicle for sale locally and for export. One destination for the car likely would be Brazil, a strong automotive trading partner with Argentina and South America’s largest new-vehicle market.

GM ranks as the No.1 exporter of vehicles to Brazil from Argentina, where it has operated since 1925, although a sharp sales downturn saw the auto maker pull out of the country between 1978 and 1985.

Brazil also ranks as the No.4 market worldwide, but recent troubles in Europe have slowed the country’s previously meteoric growth. Industry executives and analysts consider Brazil’s pause a brief one before resuming growth in 2013.

GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson, in the region for the annual Sao Paolo auto show, reveals the investment Wednesday night.

“This new model to be based on a global platform will run in addition to the models we are currently manufacturing in our plant and will allow us to supply the regional and domestic market with even more high-quality, high value Chevrolet products,” GM Argentina President Isela Costantini says in a statement, calling the outlay “a vote of confidence” in the region. 

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