Founded | 1916 |
---|---|
Defunct | 2005 |
Headquarters | Conselheiro Lafaiete, MG, Brazil |
Products | agriculture machinery tractor, cars, buses |
Santa Matilde was an industrial and equipment manufacturer based in Conselheiro Lafaiete, MG, Brazil. It was founded in 1916, and in 1968 began manufacturing combines under license from J.I. Case as Case had left the Brazilian market in 1967. By 1970, the combines had the Ste. Matilde brand on them.
The company began exploring opportunities for expansion, and looked at a partnership with Renault Agriculture to build tractors, but instead began manufacturing tractors under a license from fellow Brazilian company Brasitalia. By the late 1980s, Santa Matilde had stopped building tractors or combines.
Other products included railroad cars, cars and buses.[1]
Santa Matilde was defunct as of 2005.
Automobiles[]
Between 1978 and 1997 Santa Matilde produced more than 900 sports cars based on Chevrolet engines. Car production forced the company to invest in skilled labor and equipment. Despite the investments, the Santa Matilde car sold few units, due to its high cost (being the most expensive car in Brazil, costing the equivalent of two Chevrolet Opala) and made the company put aside its main product (railway equipment ). As a result, the financial situation of the company worsened, contributing to its bankruptcy.[2]
Buses[]
The Empresa Brasileira de Transportes Urbanos (EBTU) launched a financing program to encourage the development of urban buses with alternative fuels. Santa Matilde joined the program in 1984 and developed a standard model urban bus mounted on a Chevrolet chassis and engine , with a bi-fuel alcohol and CNG system . The vehicle was tested in the city of Natal between June 1984 and July 1985. Despite sales expectations, mechanical problems and the price of CNG prevented the adoption of the model and frustrated the company, which had its prototypes returned. With the experience acquired in the design of the two prototypes, Santa Matilde started a broader project to build bus bodies, aiming to diversify its product line. Despite the bus body market going through a crisis at that time, Santa Matilde invested in order to fulfill orders from the Companhia de Transporte Coletivos of the state of Rio de Janeiro (CTC) and bus businessmen in the same state. Despite the company's lobbying with businessmen and politicians, few orders are placed and the results are poor. After accusations of favoritism and overpricing made by the Federation of Road Transport Companies of Eastern Southern Brazil, part of the buses sold to CTC are returned due to design defects, In 1987, a new order was placed by CTC-RJ, but it was insufficient to sustain production, which ended in 1988. During one of the company's restructuring phases, there was an attempt to resume bus production in 1991, when it proposed to assemble and market (with the support of the Minas Gerais government through a market reserve) dozens of semi-finished bodies that accumulated in the company yards in Três Rios. Due to lack of financial and technical resources, Santa Matilde was unable to resume the project.[3]
Models[]
Model | Year(s) Produced | Horsepower | Engine Type | Misc Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Santa Matilde SM-300 C crawler | 44 hp (33 kW) | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | ||
Santa Matilde SM-300 CR | 44 hp (33 kW) | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | ||
Santa Matilde SM-300 CRC | 44 hp (33 kW) | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | ||
Santa Matilde SM-400 CR | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | |||
Santa Matilde SM-400 CR crawler | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | |||
Santa Matilde SM-500 CR | 80 hp (60 kW) | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia | ||
Santa Matilde SM-500 CR crawler | 80 hp (60 kW) | Perkins | licensed Brasitalia |
Model | Year(s) Produced | Horsepower | Engine Type | Misc Notes | Photo |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Santa Matilde 960 | Mercedes-Benz/MWM | licensed Case | |||
Santa Matilde SM 1000 | Mercedes-Benz/MWM | ||||
Santa Matilde SM 1200 | Mercedes-Benz/MWM | ||||
Santa Matilde SM 5105 |
References[]
External Links[]
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[[Category:Brasitalia]