VW, for instance, trains new employees for three years, taking in students as young as 15. And each year it sends 100 of its Brazilian engineers to Germany to observe production processes there. At the same time, carmakers have begun exporting some of the cutting-edge manufacturing methods pioneered at their Mexican and Brazilian plants to other countries. Latin American nations, meanwhile, are benefiting from the boost in employment and incomes that the foreign-owned car factories provide. In Mexico, auto jobs are multiplying.
Brazil presents a slightly different picture.
But new investments since 1996 have created more than 25,000 fresh jobs, many at factories yet to come on line. And in Brazil, as in Mexico, the new auto jobs tend to be toward the high end of the pay scale for manufacturing employment. The benefits of the auto economy are not spread equally, though. While Mexico and Brazil have been the big winners in the auto investment sweeps, Argentina is looking more and more like a loser. We've banged our heads against the wall many times over the last year and wondered why we invested here in the first place,'' says Cristiano Rattazzi, president of Fiat Auto Argentina.