GM to invest $1 billion in Brazil plant

General Motors (GM) has announced it will invest more than $1 billion in the development of two new cars in Brazil.┬á  The Brazilian market is a priority for GM, which experienced record sales of around 580,000 vehicles there in 2008, thanks to BrazilÔÇÖs healthy economy and a government tax break which has enabled many citizens to own cars for the first time. One new small car and one medium-sized vehicle, aimed at the domestic market, will be developed at the Gravatai plant in the south of the country, where the bulk of the money will be invested.  The new cars are expected to be in production by 2012. The investment will boost output at the factory from the current 230,000 vehicles per year to 380,000 vehicles per year by 2012.┬á Detroit, Michigan-based GM says the investment, its largest since the onset of the financial crisis, will create around 1,000 new jobs.┬á It will also boost the companyÔÇÖs total production capacity in Brazil to just over one million units per year.┬á Around 50 percent of the funding for the investment will come from GM in BrazilÔÇöwhich is financially independent of its US counterpartÔÇöand the rest from state-run banks, the company has said. *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *