Groupe Michelin broke ground on its new $510 million passenger tire plant in León, Guanajuato, in central Mexico, on Aug. 22. During the official groundbreaking ceremony of Michelin’s 21st North America facility and largest global investment for 2016, the tiremaker honored government dignitaries, customers and company leaders.
“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, CEO of Groupe Michelin.
“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 added. “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.”
Announced in July, the new facility will cover more than 1.5 million square feet on more than 240 acres in the Parque Industrial León-Bajio industrial park known as “Pilba.”
Michelin said construction is expected to begin immediately, with a completion date scheduled for late 2018. After the facility is completed, production will increase gradually and eventually produce 4 to 5 million tires a year. Tires produced at the facility will primarily be Michelin branded tires for high-performance and ultra-high-performance cars, light trucks, SUVs and cross-over vehicles.
Tires produced at the facility will be for original equipment customers in the region and for the North American domestic market, the tiremaker said in a previous press release.
Additionally, the tiremaker expects to employ at least 1,000 people once the facility reaches capacity.
