US-based auto manufacturer General Motors is to invest $500 million in its Argentina and Brazil operations in order to develop a new generation of small vehicles for the Latin American and other emerging markets. The company will upgrade its plants in Rosario, Argentina, and São Caetano do Sul, Brazil as well as building a new engineering facility at its product development centre in São Caetano do Sul.

Commenting on the expansion, chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said, "We have been growing our engineering resources in key emerging markets such as Brazil, China and India—not only for development of vehicles for their own markets, but for other emerging markets as well."

For the first two quarters of 2007, sales in Brazil and Argentina improved 18% and 16% respectively, compared with the same period in 2006.