The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 1961–2025
WEG made its own wires, castings and varnish — and became a global motor giant
Verticalization since 1961: WEG internalizes inputs rivals outsource; production in 18 countries and record results in 2025.
WEG
the move
WEG was founded in 1961 in Jaraguá do Sul, Santa Catarina, by three engineers — Werner Voigt, Eggon da Silva and Geraldo Werninghaus — and grew from a small motor workshop into one of the world's largest electric motor makers. Its signature is verticalization: making internally the inputs that global rivals buy.
The strategy is still explicit: in 2024 WEG announced roughly R$670 million in verticalization investments, expanding its wire factory in Itajaí by 9,500 m², its foundry in Guaramirim by 6,000 m², and adding capacity in Mexico. Management says the goal is optimizing resources, costs and delivery times for motors and transformers.
The result: productive presence in 18 countries, more than half of revenue from outside Brazil, and a record 2025 — net revenue of R$40.8 billion and net income of R$6.4 billion, with profitability held even in a volatile global environment.
why it works
- Internal inputs protect margins from supplier pricing power
- Making components in-house shortens lead times
- Quality control starts at the wire, not the finished motor
- Factories in multiple economic blocs turn tariffs into manageable risk
what transfers
When inputs decide your cost and quality, insource them: verticalization turns supplier risk into a competitive moat.
what came after
WEG kept growing through crises — Brazil's Collor Plan in the 1990s and the 2008 crash — and in 2024 handed the company to only its fourth CEO in six decades, Alberto Kuba, with a mandate to repeat the motor playbook in reducers, inverters and energy systems.
references
- O novo ciclo da WEG
- WEG vai investir aproximadamente R$ 670 milhões em processos de verticalização no México e no Brasil
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