Michelin announced plans to build a production facility in the center of Mexico to manufacture high-end tires for passenger cars and light trucks.
The first tires are expected to come off the production line in fourth-quarter 2018.
The new plant in León, Guanajuato, is the Group’s 21st in North America and 69th worldwide. The construction of the 142,000-square-meter plant, which represents an investment of US$510 million, is expected to begin in second-half 2016. Once completed, the León plant will be ramped up gradually.
During the initial production phase, it is expected to manufacture four to five million tires a year for Michelin customers with plants in the region as well as for the large north-american domestic market, which has been enjoying strong growth in recent years.
“Michelin is building this plant to respond both to sharp growth in Mexico's automobile market and to the confidence that the world's largest car manufacturers have put in us," said Jean-Dominique Senard, Chief Executive Officer of the Michelin Group, which is headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
He explained that the plant's location was chosen because it is just a three-hour drive from the production facilities of 18 large car manufacturers with operations in Mexico.
Currently Michelin employs 23,000 people in the US, Canada and Mexico.