Pirelli is to plough an additional US$200m into a new Mexico factory, in addition to the existing car tyre plant in Silao.
The announcement – which comes four years after the inauguration of the Pirelli factory within the Silao ‘Puerto Interior’ industrial hub in Guanajuato state – was made as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi visited Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto.
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The cash injection will start in 2016 and will be in addition to the US$360m invested to date and the US$50m earmarked for 2016-2017.
At the end of 2018, Pirelli’s total investment in the two plants in Silao will be more than US$600m.
The Silao site, built in 2012, focuses on the Premium segment, with production centred on High Performance and Ultra High Performance tyres for cars and SUVs, for local and all NAFTA area markets.
Pirelli’s production hub in Silao, which covers 140,000 square meters with an annual output at the end of 2015 of around 3m tyres, will have an annual production capacity of 5m pieces at the conclusion of initial phases of investment.
The US$200m initiative will permit production of around 2.5m tyres, with Silao’s total capacity reaching 7.5m pieces by the end of 2018.
The workforce, which today stands at 1,400 employees, is forecast to grow to more than 1,800, beyond the existing 400 ancillary staff.
In 2015, Premium sales in the NAFTA region grew by 24.3% and accounted for 90% of the total at the local level.
Overall, last year the area registered sales of EUR86m, an increase of 21.7% (+4.1% net of forex effects), representing 13.7% of total group sales, up from 11.8% the previous year. The levels are above the forecasts contained in Pirelli’s 2013-2017 industrial plan.
In NAFTA area, the Mexican plant supports the production hub Pirelli has had since 2002 in the US in Rome, Georgia.
Pirelli aims to strengthen its collaboration with its main original equipment partners, to support the launch of new lines especially developed for clients in the area, such as the Cinturato P7 All Season Plus, the Scorpion Verde All Season Plus and the Pzero All Season Plus
The company is also looking to increase sales in the Replacement channel, with the expansion of the FasTrack network.
