Bulletin 470 - Friday, May 21, 2010

Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC (BSFB) announced a realignment strategy late last week to its North America manufacturing operations that includes its intent Fresno, Calif.-based Di-Pro, Inc. facility. Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC - the joint venture of Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Dana Corporation - has commenced the transfer of operations from Di-Pro to a new Bendix manufacturing facility in Acuña, Mexico. Di-Pro, Inc. is a manufacturer and distributor of spring brake actuators and brake chambers to the heavy duty trucking industry. Production will be moved to Acuña, Mexico in one of Amistad Industrial Developers 70,000 sq.ft. facility. The move is consistent with the company's overall strategic plan to optimize their goal of maintaining lean and cost-effective manufacturing processes and practices to remain competitive in the markets served. For additional information visit www.foundationbrakes.com Amistad Industrial Developers is a full-service real estate company offering clients a broad spectrum of development capabilities for industrial and corporate facilities. With industrial parks and sites presently located in the states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Chihuahua, Sonora, Queretaro and Guanajuato. Having already developed more than 17 million square feet of industrial and corporate space in Mexico, Amistad is considered one of the country's leading industrial developers. For additional information visit www.amistadmexico.com

Source: Amistad

Mexico City,- Bosch, manufacturer of automotive and industrial technology, will invest US$27 million this year in Mexico in their training center, located in central Mexico and in their new offices which will be in Santa Fe Corporate Center in Mexico City. Bosch showed positive recovery signs and their automotive production volume in the first quarter of 2010 posted a 40% year-to-year growth. "Due to larger vehicles demand in North America, our Automotive Division made the largest contribution to such growth; however, it will still be some time before we achieve pre-crisis sales levels achieved in 2007", Charles Visconti, Robert Bosch President in Mexico, said. Bosch Mexico is planning a two-digit growth from last year numbers.

Source: T21

Guanajuato, Mexico.- In a meeting held by the State Governor and Messrs Sekiyama, President, Kinugawa Co. Ltd, Yoda, Body Seal Business Unit Administrative Director and Tanabe, President, Tepro, Inc., it was said that more than US$10 million will be invested in this new Japanese plant, generating more than 300 jobs. This company is supplier for the automotive sector, and specializes in rubber parts and synthetic resins, standing out the production of molding, vibration isolators, inside rubber parts and hoses. The company, which will operate in Castro del Rio Industrial Complex in Irapuato is fruit of the business trip to attract investment made by state authorities to Japan from January 29 to February 5.

Source: Portal Automotriz

Bombay, India,- Tata Motors, the largest automotive company in India, has started negotiations with a Mexican company to manufacture their vehicles here, Mint, the business journal, reported, quoting two unidentified sources familiar with this subject. If negotiations succeed, the Mexican company Metalsa will manufacture Indica Vista model, Indigo Manza sedan and the ultra-affordable Nano under a manufacturing agreement, Mint informed. This will allow Tata Motors set a presence in Mexico and in other emerging markets, the report added. "A team from Tata Motors, made up by top executives, visited Mexico with this purpose", the newspaper quoted an unidentified source. Metalsa, a unit from Grupo Proeza, manufactures auto parts and commercial vehicles. Their unit in Jamshedpur, in eastern India, supplies chassis and gasoline pumps for medium and large trucks manufactured by Tata Motors, the newspaper stated.

Source: El Norte

Mexico City,- Lack of safety in Mexico has not taken down operations by British companies in Mexico, quite the opposite, energy, infrastructure and automotive sectors want to increase their investments. John Frank, First Trade Secretary for the British Embassy in Mexico, said that the United Kingdom is the fifth country with the largest foreign investment in Mexico, because at least 17 of their companies operate here, including Astra Zeneca and HSBC. He assured that British companies installed in Mexico say they carry out their operations smoothly and that they have not experienced any trouble due to lack of safety. Mr. Frank considered that information from the media exerts an influence on the discussion about lack of safety in Mexico.

Source: BASE

Villahermosa, Tabasco,- Oleofino will invest MXP$80 million to open an oil palm processing plant in Jalapa, in order to increase the number of plantations and encourage growing this crop at the State of Tabasco, in a joint-venture with Charricos, a Tabasco-based company that already has a project to achieve this purpose. Enrique Nadal del Rio, Sub-secretary, Competitiveness and Business Foster in the Ministry of Economic Development, informed this and pointed-out that Oleofino presented a project in an innovation incentives program by the National Council for Science and Technology, in the field of technology and genetic improvement of oil palm. The processing plant could start operating next year, he said; and on this issue he added that the Jalisco-based company Oleofino wants to join a project of the Tabasco-based snacks firm Charricos, which already has an important presence in shelves at important self-service stores in Mexico, such as Wal-Mart and Chedraui, among others. Charricos is also considering an investment for a little over MXP$30 million to reactivate oil palm harvesting at the State of Tabasco.

Source: El Financiero

Mexico.- In addition to manufacturing components and spare parts for corporations such as Airbus and Boeing, Bombardier will assemble Learjet 85 in their facilities in Queretaro. Mexico has the second largest fleet of private aircraft in the world, after the United States, and 60% of the world fleet will be modernized and changed within the next ten years, "which means that, speaking about Bombardier, we are going to replace 20 thousand airplanes in the world in the next ten years, informed Flavio Diaz Miron, Head Representative in Mexico and Latin America of this Canadian firm. He said that in even term Boeing and Airbus will change around 25 thousand airplanes, which, together with renewals foreseen by companies such as Bombardier, will require parts and components from suppliers, as well as a site to manufacture airplanes. In May 2009 investments for US$250 million were announced for the manufacture in Mexico of the whole exterior of new Learjet 85 airplane, outdoing Germans form Grove in Munich, as well as a manufacturing center in Belfast; doing it before Montreal and long before Wichita, the birthplace of Learjet family. "We got for Mexico Learjet project", he added.

Source: Excelsior