Interview: Roberto Cortes, Chief Executive of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus

Brazil's new vehicle market has shrunk by about 70% over the past five years, demanding a rapid response from companies with local production operations. For Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, the truck and bus manufacturing subsidiary of MAN Latin America, it was a time of scaling back shifts and offering voluntary departure and early retirement schemes.

Having achieved considerable progress on that front, it is now time for fresh investment, and the Brazilian commercial vehicle unit recently allocated €420m (US$450m) over the next five years to modernise production and update its vehicles and technological offering. Automotive World caught up with Roberto Cortes, Chief Executive of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, to hear more about the successful survival strategies that position the company to take advantage of the upturn when it finally arrives.