ABSTRACT

This chapter explains Metal Leve (ML) prolific growth and abrupt decline, culminating in the sale of the shares of the tight-knit group – or of their descendants – that controlled it since its foundation to a foreign company. Metal Leve originated in a company called Motorit, a piston ring manufacturer. Motorit was established in 1941, with Samuel Klabin, A. Buck and Ludwig Gleich as its partners. Concerning the beginning of the automobile industry, Metal Leve presented a number of expansion projects to the GEIA. With regards to technology, Metal Leve's relationships with foreign firms effectively provided it with independent access to technology. The American market presented special market opportunities for ML and other auto parts manufacturers' exports due to the American automobile industry's extraordinary degree of vertical integration in auto parts manufacturing. In Europe, ML's strategy involved setting up commercial subsidiary companies to stimulate ML's exports.