Bulletin 431 - Friday, July 31, 2009

Monterrey, Mexico,- With a US$300 million investment, the German company Liebherr is building a new plant to manufacture components for Aeolian equipment, turbines, cranes and equipment in Garcia Municipality

In a first stage, they will invest US$40 million in the construction of a 22 thousand square meters building in a 300 thousand square meters plot of land.

The remaining investments consist of machinery, equipment and furniture for around US$260 million for a total investment close to US$300 million, Oscar Rodriguez, Head of Urban Development in Garcia Municipality informed.

He further said that the arrival of the new plant means generating more than one thousand 500 direct jobs and around 4 thousand 500 indirect jobs, which will be of great help to economy, both during construction and after operations start.

Tijuana Baja California,- In order to boost their strategy to attract investment to. the State of Baja California and respond to growing domestic and international competition, the Ministry of Economic Development (SEDECO) will hold an Investment Seminar in Motor Car Parts (MPA) premises in Torrance, California next July 30. This time it was agreed to hold the seminar in MPA Plant, which recently announced the expansion of their operations in Tijuana with an investment close to half a million dollars and the generation of 500 new jobs in 2009, as a sample of successful operations in the State.

More than 15 California companies interested in the automotive, electronics and medical products sectors are expected to attend the Seminar, to get familiar with business opportunities offered by Baja California and to become suppliers for local industry.

Mexico City,- LIT, a corporation that has been operating cross dock service for around six months in Toluca Automotive Terminal, property of the railroad Kansas City Southern de México (KCSM), is working on consolidating operations and increasing short-term volume. After winning a bidding process, the Company is currently performing plastics transfer processes.

Alejandro Ortiz-Avina, LIT Commercial Director, said they have been operating the yard for six months now; the yard is one thousand square meters (around 10,763 square feet) and has capacity to expand to three thousand square meters (32,391 square feet).

LIT has other projects which they are expecting to see consolidated in the short term, such as handling paper and cardboard products, as well as steel. "Our perspectives are broad, we may be speaking of around 20 thousand tons of paper per year and between five and 10 of steel, in addition to plastic, because these products work very well in this terminal", Ortiz-Avina added.

Mexico,- The Japanese Mazda arrived in Mexico only five years ago and they already have a 2.5% share of the domestic market; only in the first half of 2009 they sold 8,995 vehicles, according to the Mexican Automotive Industry Association, Asociacion Mexicana de la Industria Automotriz (AMIA). For Jim O'Sullivan, Mazda President and CEO for North America, Mexico has become a priority market in the region and for the corporation, located in Hiroshima, Japan. He declared they have experienced a significant advance and are forecasting increasing their sales points from 26 to 31 by the second half of 2010, with a good profit margin. According to AMIA, even if Mazda sales went down 10% this year, they increased their share in the market by being far away from the 30% fall automotive industry suffered in the first months of the year.

Tijuana Baja California- Before the presence of Governor José Guadalupe Osuna Millan, Motorcar Parts de Mexico (MPA) announced their premises will be expanded with a US$350 million investment, which will generate 2 thousand jobs by year end. Rene Romandea, General Manager, MPA, said that it was in January 2005 when construction of their 187 thousand square feet building was started, growing fast ever since after fulfilling the Corporation's expectations. With this project they set a position among the most important leaders in the automotive sector, because they export 16 thousand units daily. Rene Romandea also thanked the support provided by the government through the State Ministry of Economic Development, which helped during the proceedings completed for the expansion.

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua,- Maquiladoras Association increased to 12 thousand their forecast of jobs to be recovered this 2009. Soledad Maynez Bribiescas said that with upturn of orders to plants, expansions and the arrival of new companies, which had not been considered at the beginning of the year, this number of jobs will be easily generated. To date jobs generated are close to 8 thousand, of which only 4 thousand 400 correspond to the Taiwan-based Foxconn, which accelerated recruitment for their premises in Jeronimo. The remaining 3 thousand 600 jobs were generated because recruitment was reactivated by companies which are starting to see an upturn in orders, and the expansion of other companies.

Mexico,- Robert Bosch Company informed they are planning to open 500 automotive service centers in Mexico by 2015, which will generate up to 5,000 new jobs.
Charles Visconti, President, said they will ask for support from the Ministry of the Economy to offer credits to future investors. He also said that this German company has 70 automotive service centers throughout the Mexican Republic, and they are planning to increase that number to 500 from now and up to 2015.
He added that growth will take place through technological transformation and by adapting shops; in addition, personnel in existing shops will receive technical training.
He further said this is a world-wide project and acknowledged there is great potential in Mexico to develop growth in the sector, because most automotive workshops are not prepared for new technologies.