Saft Continues Expansion into Developing Markets with New Subsidiary in Brazil

Saft has officially opened its new subsidiary in Brazil. Based in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, Saft’s new company will provide sales and technical support for customers in the rail, telecom networks, utilities, renewable energy and oil and gas sectors.

"Brazil has a particularly vibrant economy that is expected to be the fifth largest in the world by 2016, so the opening of Saft do Brasil is ideally timed to help increase our penetration within this growing market and also continues our expansion into another BRIC country," says John Searle, Chairman of the Management Board of Saft. "One of the brakes on Brazil’s development so far, compared with the other BRIC countries, has been the lack of modern transport and energy infrastructure, and these are now receiving major investment. Industrial batteries play a vital role in these sectors and particularly in hot and humid climates, so this is a great opportunity for an advanced technology battery company like Saft."

A main focus for Saft do Brasil, under the management of Guido Petit, will be the promotion of advanced nickel-based rechargeable battery technology that offers important advantages for industrial customers in Brazil in terms of reliability, performance and TCO (total cost of ownership). Saft has already made a significant breakthrough by gaining certification for its specialist telecom batteries from Brazil’s telecommunications agency, ANATEL (Agência Nacional de Telecomunicaões).

The São Paulo office will also support the introduction of Saft’s state-of-the-art lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery technology for a range of professional and industrial applications.