Michelin Group began construction of its 69th global plant in León, Guanajuato, in central Mexico, this week.
On Mon., Aug. 22, the company held an official groundbreaking and traditional first stone ceremony held with government dignitaries, key customers and company leaders at the new site.
"Our actions here today demonstrate our confidence in Mexico's manufacturing environment, the skilled and talented workforce here and the infrastructure necessary to deliver tires efficiently throughout North America," said Jean-Dominique Senard, chief executive officer of Michelin Group, based in Clermont-Ferrand, France.
“Michelin's customers for passenger-vehicle tires are demanding more and more of our innovative, high-tech tires to meet the performance requirements of the growing market in North America,” Senard said. “This plant will improve our capacity to meet those demands, as a key element of Michelin's 'Service to the Customer' initiative in North America and worldwide.”
The new plant, Michelin Group's 21st site in North America, was announced in July. The plant will comprise approximately 142,000 square meters (more than 1.5 million square feet) on approximately 98 hectares (more than 240 acres) in the Parque Industrial León-Bajio, or "Pilba," as the industrial park is known locally. The plant represents Michelin Group's largest global investment for 2016, approximately €450 million (US$510 million), as the Company recently announced.
Construction of the plant is expected to begin immediately, with completion currently scheduled for late 2018. Production will increase gradually thereafter, eventually reaching 4 to 5 million tires a year, primarily under the Michelin brand for high-performance and ultra-high-performance cars, light trucks, SUVs and cross-over vehicles. The plant is expected to employ at least 1,000 people at capacity.
"We are excited to celebrate this occasion with so many of our valued customers and respected government leaders across León and Mexico who have helped us to reach this key milestone," said Mike Boggs, director of Michelin Mexico. "We are eager to join the León business community and look forward to establishing long-term relationships here."
For more details, see “Michelin Will Build a $510 Million Tire Plant in Mexico.”
Headquartered in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Michelin is present in 171 countries, has 111,700 employees and operates 68 production facilities in 17 countries, which together produced 184 million tires in 2015.
