Chinese group Foton Motor intends to expand its presence in Brazil with the possible construction of a factory, according to a statement released by Foton Aumark do Brasil, a 100% Brazilian company and official importer of Foton trucks.

The statement added that the Chinese group, when entering Brazil in partnership with Foton Aumark do Brasil, defined the Brazilian market as one of the most strategic and important in its expansion plan, as it is the largest market in Latin America and seventh largest in the world.

The company also said that its operation in the country now has the cooperation of the group through its Brazilian subsidiary, “thus intensifying its performance in the domestic market,” according to Márcio Vita, the company’s chief executive.

Over a period of around eight years, through Foton Aumark do Brasil, the network of distributors throughout the country was set up, as well as the investment in the acquisition of land in Guaíba (Rio Grande do Sul) for the construction of a factory.

“Given the severe and prolonged economic crisis that began in 2014, the company decided to start initially manufacturing in Brazil in partnership with Agrale, a national commercial vehicle manufacturer located in the south of Brazil,” in 2016, the statement said.

Darren Lu, head of the Chinese group for the brand’s business in Brazil, was quoted in the statement as saying that after more than a decade in the country through a partnership with a Brazilian company, “we understand that the appropriate moment has arrived to start a new stage, with our direct cooperation in the operation.”

The Foton brand reached the Brazilian market in 2010, at the height of truck sales in the country, with the import of vehicles and commercial operation run by its official representative Foton Aumark, a Brazilian company led by the former chairman of the National Bank for Economic Development Luiz Carlos Mendonça de Barros, the current Chairman of the Board of Directors.