Mexico
For more information, contact Carlos Mortera (cmortera@AMTonline.org).
German company Continental announced that it will invest $90 million in a new production plant for hydraulic hoses in north-central Mexico. The new plant will be in the Vesta Industrial Park in Aguascalientes and will have a total area of 85,000 square meters. Construction will begin in the second half of 2024, and operations are expected to begin in the second half of 2025.
EuroGroup Laminations, a manufacturer of components for electric motors, said it would invest $55 million to expand its production capacity in Mexico to serve the automotive industry. The expansion will be at its new plant in Queretaro.
With an investment of $150 million, furniture-maker Kuka Home Mexico inaugurated the expansion of its plant in Salinas Victoria, Nuevo Leon. This will generate 1,000 new jobs.
Manufacturing exports from Nuevo Leon are expected to grow 4.16% in 2024, above the 3% forecast for the national average. Nuevo Leon attracted $56 billion in foreign investment in 2023 and created 250,000 jobs with 203 new projects, 104 investments, and 99 expansions. Of the nearshoring projects that reach Mexico, 76% happen in Nuevo Leon.
Yura EVC, a leading producer of automotive electronic harnesses, announced a new investment of $35 million in their Coahuila facility, creating 1,144 new jobs for a total of more than 3,000 on-site workers. The company’s high-voltage connectors and its other electronic components are manufactured for key clients such as Kia and Hyundai, among others.
MAHLE Behr, a German company in the automotive sector, inaugurated its third plant in Ramos Arizpe at the cost of $70 million. The plant created 400 new jobs related to the manufacturing of components and auto parts for electric vehicles.
Metso, a Finnish industrial machinery company, is investing $40 million in a plant in Irapuat, Guanajuato, to manufacture polymers for air filters.
Conduit RYMCO, the Mexican producer of steel pipe, will invest $45 million in a new plant in Frontera, Coahuila, focused on the automotive sector. The new site will generate 230 new jobs and will begin operations in 2025.
With an investment of $400 million, Unison Shanghai, a Chinese automotive company specializing in aluminum components and auto parts, has begun construction of its first plant in Mexico in San Luis Potosi. The factory will initially supply EV customers such as Tesla, Volvo, and BMW in the United States, but the company expects that 60% of its production will be consumed by assembly plants in Mexico in three to five years.
The state of Queretaro accumulated more than $870 million in automotive investments during 2023, ranking it as fifth in the country for automotive, thanks to 28 new projects that created 5,000 jobs.
Siemens is investing $17 million in Ciudad Juarez for ITESA 4, a new manufacturing plant focused on products for energy measurement and distribution. The plant will be built in four stages and is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. Siemens will install four assembly lines and transfer another six. The plant will have capabilities for CNC stamping, metal bending, welding, and painting, among others, for metallic components and aluminum bars.
Shanghai Daimay, the Chinese automotive interior company, inaugurated their fifth plant in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, with an investment of $45 million. At the same time, they began the construction of their sixth and seventh plants, where $52 million will be invested and 1,500 additional jobs will be created.
SEV, the automotive division of Solarever, will build an electric car assembly plant in Durango to become the first manufacturer of electric vehicles in the state with an investment of $395 million. The plant will manufacture four models and generate more than 1,000 direct jobs. The cars will be for both domestic consumption and export markets.
Brazil
For more information, contact Achilles Arbex (aarbex@AMTonline.org).
GM announced a new $1.4 billion investment cycle in Brazil, the company’s largest and most commercially strategic country in South America. The investment will be made in its plants and operations to completely renew the portfolio of locally designed Chevrolet vehicles, develop innovative and personalized technologies, and create new businesses in the region. This amount corresponds to the first phase of the next investment cycle between 2024 and 2028.
John Deere will build the Brazil Technology Development Center, its first development and testing center for tropical agriculture in the world. The company will invest $37 million in the project to promote synergy between the multiple R&D teams that are dedicated to designing and validating new products and technologies for their main production systems: grain, sugarcane, and special crops.
Renault do Brasil has announced an investment of $380 million at the Ayrton Senna Complex in Parana to produce a completely new C-SUV on the Renault Group's new modular platform, the same that is used for Kardian.
After doubling production capacity and investing in new products, Starrett Brasil is closing the 2023 fiscal year with positive numbers. One of the world's leading manufacturers of saws, tools, and measuring instruments, Starrett has invested $10 million in recent years to expand its plant in Itu, Sao Paulo. The company now plans to double production in 2024.
Nissan plans to invest $575 million in its Brazilian factory, with the goal of doubling its market share in Latin America's biggest economy by 2026. The Japanese carmaker had previously planned to invest $250 million, a figure that was announced in April 2022. It’s now adding another $225 million in 2023-2025.
Brazil unveiled its sweeping industrial policy package. Officials framed the announcement as part of a global trend, detailing $60 billion in grants and loans that Brasilia aims to deploy to activities like green energy, drug manufacturing, and farming productivity by the end of 2026.
