ThyssenKrupp Opens New Plant in Mexico

ThyssenKrupp AG (Essen, Germany), one of the world’s leading suppliers of materials and components to the auto industry, celebrated the opening of a new components plant in Puebla Mexico which has the capacity to produce over one million steering columns, more than seven million steering shafts and over 45 million cold-forged steering parts per year for the North American market.

The company has invested around 90 million euros in the new production facility and expects to invest over 800 million euros in North America between now and 2020. Nine out of ten premium class cars are fitted with components made by ThyssenKrupp, and one in three trucks feature drive components from the company, which continues to expand in the North America growth region.

Chief executive officer Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, Dr. Rafael Moreno Valle, the governor of the state of Puebla, Mexico, and Viktor Elbling the German ambassador to Mexico, inaugurated a new components plant in Huejotzingo, Puebla, which will manufacture steering systems for the automotive industry.

“Our order books are full so we are constantly expanding our production capacities in Mexico and the U.S.,” noted Dr. Karsten Kroos, the chief executive officer of the Components Technology business area at ThyssenKrupp. “In the past three fiscal years we have invested around 185 million euros here. Now we want to raise the tempo even more. To fulfil new orders we are planning further investment in North America averaging around 80 million euros a year up to 2020. Around half of this will go into expanding and building new plants in Mexico.”

These investments will focus on expanding production capacities for chassis and engine components. In February this year the company opened a new front axle assembly facility in Puebla and is also currently building a further axle assembly plant 70 km away in San Jose Chiapa to supply Audi beginning in 2016. In the coming year, work is expected to start on the construction of a production line for cylinder head covers at a new engine components plant in the Bajio region.

This new steering plant now produces components for the automotive industry at four sites in Mexico. The product portfolio ranges from engine and steering components to springs and stabilizers to the assembly of axle modules. The Components Technology division currently employs around 4,500 people at 11 locations in North America, with Mexico accounting for almost half this figure. The construction of new plants is set to increase the number of employees in Mexico by approximately 40 percent in the next five years.

At the end of April, ThyssenKrupp also launched a broad-based marketing campaign for new materials and components for the automotive industry in the U.S. In the coming weeks the company will present its “InCar plus” research and development platform to customers in the U.S. for the top American and Japanese auto manufacturers. The platform focuses on eco-friendly solutions for energy efficiency, electromobility and lightweighting. The “InCar plus” innovations can be used in the body, chassis, steering and powertrain.

www.thyssenkrupp.com