Michelin Group began construction of its 69th global plant this week with an official ground-breaking and traditional first stone ceremony at the new site in León, Guanajuato, in central Mexico.

"Our actions here today demonstrate our confidence in Mexico's manufacturing environment, the skilled and talented workforce here and the infrastructure necessary to deliver tyres efficiently throughout North America," said Jean-Dominique Senard, Michelin Group chief executive officer.

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"Customers for passenger vehicle tyres are demanding more and more of our innovative, high-tech tyres to meet the performance requirements of the growing market in North America," Senard added. "This plant will improve our capacity to meet those demands."

The new plant, the group's 21st in North America alone, was announced in July. It will occupy about 142,000 square metres (more than 1.5m 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 is the group's largest global investment for 2016, approximately EUR450m (US$510m), as 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 4m to 5m tyres a year, primarily under the Michelin brand for high-performance and ultra-high-performance cars, light trucks, SUVs and crossover vehicles. The plant is expected to employ at least 1,000 people at capacity.

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