Products
In June 1971, the VBB, now called "Wheeled Reconnaissance Car" (CRR), had its studies, project and industrial designs transferred to Engesa so that it could begin production. The transfer is common in developed countries, but in Brazil it was a milestone. The choice of Engesa and not Bernardini to take over the armored vehicle was due Whitaker's openly nationalist and sympathetic views to Brazil's dictatorship, as well as being a friend of lieutenant colonel Pedro de Mello, the commander of the Working Group of Automobile Engineers. The inherited technology became the 6x6 EE-9 Cascavel reconnaissance vehicle, initially with a 37mm cannon and later with a 90mm cannon.
Another transfer of technology, initiated at the Regional Motor Mechanization Park of the 2nd Military Region (PqRMM/2), was the Amphibious Troop Transport Car (CTTA), also 6x6, armed with a machine gun turret. It became the EE-11 Urutu in the hands of Engesa, which equipped both with its "Boomerang" suspension. Combined production reached thousands of vehicles, being the company's most numerous armored vehicles. They have seen combat in current conflicts such as the Iraqi Civil War (2011–2017) and the Libyan Civil War (2014–present).[3]
Sales of adaptation kits for trucks declined in the late 1970s, with the latest successes being transport platforms for Scania models and trailers for Mercedes. The experience gained allowed the development of Engesa's own version of the GMC truck, the EE-25, designed hastily together with the EE-15 to accompany the sale of the Cascavel and Urutu, thus offering "complete packages". They were launched in 1974 and were capable of 1.5 or 2.5 tons off-road or double that on regular roads.[1][4][5] The EE-25 was the best-selling vehicle, exceeding the production of the Cascavel or Urutu. The line of military "utilities" was completed by the EE-50, a 6x6 with a capacity of five tons (ten on a regular basis) from the late 1970s; the EE-34, a pickup truck using technology from Envemo, purchased in 1983; and the EE-12 or Engesa 4, a jeep presented in 1984. Rustic and with good off-road performance, it became the company's most successful product in the civilian market.[1][6][7]
The EE-15 also had a civilian version, but its price was not competitive. Exclusive to this market, the EE-510 was announced in 1976, an articulated forestry tractor with a capacity of ten tons and seven meter logs. It did not sell much because it was a niche product in the reforestation of paper and cellulose industries, such as Aracruz Celulose and Klabin S.A. In 1981, the EE-1124, a 14.5 ton 4x4 agricultural tractor, was launched, with the EE-1128 version, with a turbo engine, and its equivalent without a cabin, the EE-1428, in the following years. The agricultural ones were the largest on the market, expensive and of high quality. Both forestry and agricultural production were highly nationalized.[1][8] The fall in military exports, culminating in the 1981 crisis, resulted in an effort to diversify. The production of tractors designed years earlier, with financing from Finep and utilities, expanded, from 1983 onwards, the domestic market's share of sales. However, civil lines received less attention from senior management, being, in the words of a company interviewee, the "ugly ducklings".
The line of wheeled armored vehicles continued with the EE-17 Sucuri tank destroyer, mounting a 105 mm cannon on the Cascavel chassis. Presented in 1977,[1] it was a technical failure. When the Sucuri II, an improved version, appeared a decade later,[1] the market was already taken over by the Austrian SK-105 Kürassier and there was no series production.[1] The other wheeled vehicle, the small EE-3 Jararaca reconnaissance vehicle, also had technical limitations, but a small quantity was produced.
Bernardini, Biselli, Novatraction, Gurgel and Moto Peças were competitors in the Brazilian market, although smaller. Among them, Bernardini worked in the tracked vehicle sector, designing a combat vehicle for the Brazilian Army, the Tamoyo, since 1979. Aiming to conquer the tracked market, in 1982 Engesa decided to develop its own combat vehicle, the Osório. However, its main target was Saudi Arabia, which had opened an international competition for a new main battle tank. Advanced, Osório performed on par with its major power competitors in tests, but the Saudis ended up choosing the M1 Abrams in 1991 — possibly just feigning interest in the Osório to lower the price of the Abrams.[9] The other tracked vehicle, the EE-T4 Ogum, a light air transportable vehicle, did not generate enough interest to go beyond the prototype phase.
Successes such as Cascavel and Urutu were characterized by "simple and flexible design concepts, low cost, good performance and reliability, easy handling and simple maintenance", results of Brazilian industry conditions; the low price was a result of the use of civilian components, especially trucks. Their demonstrated performance from the Egyptian–Libyan War (1977) and especially the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) then provided "real marketing". The presence of armored vehicles since before the start of the Iran-Iraq War guaranteed the following batches. With products suited to the needs of Third World buyers and battle proven, Engesa was able to capture value. In the 1980s, however, its civilian lines conquered limited markets. In the military sector, it reached a higher technological level (Osório), but was unable to achieve sales.
The eight military vehicles that Engesa produced in series — armored vehicles EE-3, EE-9 and EE-11 and utility vehicles EE-12, EE-15, EE-25, EE-34 and EE-50 — together numbered a total of 6,818 units. It is a lower number than those published at the time, such as Whitaker Ribeiro's claims that, in 1979, he produced half of the equipment in operation in the world in his sector, having the "largest company producing armored cars on wheels of the free world" and selling 5,000 units by 1985 (Defence & Armament magazine then estimated less than 1,700 which was not denied).
