Semcon signs major agreement with Volkswagen in Brazil

Semcon signs major agreement with Volkswagen in Brazil

Volkswagen has chosen Semcon's newly acquired company IVM as its development
partner in Brazil. IVM has been part of the Semcon Group since 1 April. 120
people will initially work with assignments at Volkswagen's Trucks & Busses
division in Sao Paulo and Resende.

“IVM's excellent collaboration and long relationship with Volkswagen has paved
the way for this deal,” says Stefan Ohlsson, Senior Vice President Semcon
Automotive R&D. “For us it means that we get a good first foothold in Brazil.
The country has a steadily growing automotive industry with many of the leading
manufacturers established here, like GM, Scania and AB Volvo. This new
partnership provides excellent growth potential.” 

The initial stages of the partnership will involve 120 people over a three-year
period, with the possibility of further expansion. This will make Brazil the
third largest country staff-wise that Semcon has business in, after Sweden and
Germany. The undertaking will start with services in the Engineering
Departments, for example Powertrain, Chassis, Electric & Electronics, Interior &
Body, Quality Assurance, Finite Elements Simulation and Testing services.

The Brazilian market
Brazil, along with Russia, India, China and Korea, are known as the BRICK
countries. Over the next five years it is expected that the prosperity of all
these countries will increase almost double that of the average for the rest of
the world. These countries' annual growth rate is expected to be around 11 per
cent, compared to an average global growth rate of 6 per cent. 


For further information, please contact: 
Stefan Ohlsson, Senior Vice President Semcon Automotive R&D, tel. +46 736 840
555
Peter Weigert, Commercial Managing Director IVM, tel. +49 89 31566 280

Semcon is 2650 committed people with a passion for product development,
technical information and IT. Today Semcon is active in Sweden, Australia,
Brazil, China, Germany, Hungary, Malaysia, Norway and the UK and via partners in
Belgium, France, Portugal and Spain. Semcon had pro forma sales of around EUR
267 million in 2006 and it is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's Nordic
list.