Burning rubber.

Brazil's auto industry is in high gear on a growing economy and stiff demand for Brazil-made vehicles abroad after several years of slumping exports. Foreign suppliers are following suit and investing in the country. Bridgestone Firestone, a global tire producer, opened a new 75,000 square-meter production facility in Camacari, in Brazil's Bahia state. The US$160 million project will make tires for passenger vehicles and light trucks. The project is part of a seven-year, $460 million investment plan that concludes at the end of this year. Tires produced at the new plant will supply both the domestic and export markets. Twenty-two percent will be sold to automobile manufacturers in and outside of Brazil, another 22% will be exported across the Americas and 56% will be sold to the tire replacement market.