Pirelli plans to invest an additional $200 million to build a second tire plant near its existing Silao, Mexico, facility and expand its production in Mexico.

“The new investment confirms the importance of Mexico among Pirelli’s international operations,” Pirelli said in a press release, adding that Mexico offers a strategic position that is ideal to develop Pirelli’s NAFTA area presence.

Opening in 2012, Pirelli’s first Silao plant was built with an initial $300 million investment and produces high performance and ultra high performance passenger car and SUV tires. To date, the company has invested $360 million into the first Mexico plant, Pirelli said. The Mexico plant supports the NAFTA production hub Pirelli established in 2002 in Rome, Ga.

The tiremaker begins its investment phase this year and has already set aside another $50 million for 2016-2017. By the end of 2018, Pirelli said its investment total for both plants will be more than $600 million.

The new 48,000-square-meter plant will produce high performance and ultra high performance passenger tires for the North American market, a Pirelli spokesperson told Tire Review. Production is scheduled for 2017, with the plant producing 2.5 million tires annually. Pirelli will also build a new 9,000-square-meter warehouse, the tiremaker told Tire Review.

Pirelli’s production hub in Silao currently covers 140,000 square meters, and will increase its output from 3 million tires to 5 million, concluding the investment phase. The new plant is set to increase Pirelli’s total Silao production capacity to 7.5 million tires a year by the end of 2018. 

Pirelli said it also plans to increase its Silao employees from 1,400 employees to more than 1,800.