Constellium N.V. plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Mexico to produce aluminum automotive structural components. This plant, located in San Luis Potosí, will allow the company to respond to increasing demand for lightweight, high-strength aluminum crash management systems and automotive structures for the expanding auto industry in Mexico. The automotive industry expects that nearly five million vehicles will be produced annually in Mexico by 2019, making it one of the largest markets for automobile production.
“The San Luis Potosí plant is an important step in our development in North America and will allow Constellium to expand its business into one of the most significant automotive markets in the world,” said Eric Krepps, Constellium’s general manager of Automotive Structures for North America. “By bringing our advanced manufacturing processes to Mexico to be near our customers’ assembly plants, we have a new opportunity to support automakers in their mission to make vehicles lighter, thereby improving fuel economy and lowering emissions.”
The company plans to invest approximately $10 million in the 5,000 sq m facility, which may be expanded to 13,000 sq m in the future to adapt to customers’ supply needs. The company expects to initially employ approximately 100 people in San Luis Potosí, which is centrally located to support current and new customers across Mexico.
The San Luis Potosí plant—which is expected to start production in 2018—will complement Constellium’s growing footprint in North America for the fast expanding market of automotive structures. Last year, Constellium announced it would build a new manufacturing facility for automotive structures in Bartow County, GA, which is expected to start production in 2017. The company also doubled manufacturing capacity at its facility in Van Buren, MI, in 2015 and has enhanced advanced prototyping and development capabilities to better serve automotive customers in North America.