the year 1951, technicians from Daimler Benz, accompanied by Brazilian specialists, carried out studies to analyse the viability of producing vehicles in Brazil. Two years later, on 7 October 1953, Mercedes-Benz do Brasil was officially founded, having as its first president Alfred Jurzykowski. A plant was then built in São Bernardo do Campo (a city neighbour to São Paulo city) in São Paulo State. On 28 September 1956 the plant was inaugurated in the presence of the then President of Brazil, Juscelino Kubitschek. This date marks the birth of the Brazilian vehicle industry. Until 1958 only lorries were produced in the Brazilian plant, and local body builders used lorry chassis to make buses. In 1958, the integral bus Mercedes-Benz O321 H also started to the local production, supplying the local market as well as the market of other South American countries (although some Latin-American operators also bought European-made Mercedes-Benz buses). For instance, 550 units of Brazilian-made O321 integral buses were exported to Argentina in 1961, and other 300 units were exported to Venezuela in 1965. In 1963, a front-engine bus chassis was unveiled, based on the LP 321 lorry. New versions of this chassis as well as new versions of the O 321 integral bus were presented the following year. The first integral bus tailored to the Brazilian market was the O 326, a rear-engine coach unveiled in 1966. It featured the turbo-charged OM 326 engine delivering up to 200 hp. One year later, a new front-engine bus chassis was also unveiled – the LPO 344, also based on a lorry chassis. In 1969 a new rural- and urban-service bus was presented by Mercedes-Benz do Brasil. Designated O 352, this integral bus was equipped with a direct-injection diesel engine. Two new front-engine chassis were presented that same year – the LPO 1113 and the LPO 1520. During the 1970s the plant in São Bernardo do Campo was being expanded to meet with the increasing demand for the production of commercial vehicles. By the end of that decade, Mercedes-Benz had produced more than 500,000 commercial vehicles in the Brazilian plant, about 4,000 of which were integral buses. In 1970, the rear-engine OH 1313 and the front-engine OF 1313 bus chassis were unveiled. One year later, a new integral coach was unveiled – the O 362 – featuring a larger luggage compartment than its predecessor, the O 321. Yet another integral bus