Bulletin 472 - Friday, June 4, 2010

Mexico,-The French company Renault will start this year the construction of an automotive plant in Mexico with a US$800 million investment, Valentin Diez Morodo, Chairman of the Mexican Foreign Trade Council (Consejo Mexicano de Comercio Exterior ¬- Comce), announced. "The approval has been given, but it has not been decided in which state it will be located yet", he said after mentioning Mexican Peso rate of exchange against other currencies and the country's macroeconomic stability as pull factors for investment. Diez Morodo said that Renault's investment will be made in a context where manufacturing industry in Mexico, especially automotive, has shown a fast rebound after the 2009 economic crisis, encouraged mainly by the recovery of the US market. In Mexico, Renault has produced automobiles using the platform of their partner Nissan, which has plants in Aguascalientes and Cuernavaca. From January to April 2010, Renault sold 4,066 units in the Mexican market, a 3.7% year-to-year increase.

Source: El Economista

Mexico,- Bridgestone de Mexico is analyzing the construction of a new plant in Mexico, Ariel de .Pascuali, President and CEO, informed. Interviewed during the launch of their environment campaign "For a + Environment Friendly Driving" ("Por una Conducción + Ecológica") Mr. de Pascuali said that there is nothing official yet, but that there should be a new Bridgestone plant in Mexico within four years. Regarding the place where the new plant would be built, de Pascuali said that this has not been decided yet. "As soon as the investment is decided, fiscal incentives granted by each state will be analyzed, we have made studies in Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosi, in Nuevo Leon where we built a plant in Monterrey; we have even made studies in Mexico City". Mr. de Pascuali said that there is a pre-project, which has not been approved in Japan yet, but he is confident it will be authorized, because Mexico is a strategic country for Bridgestone, due to the potential it has for new car sales.

Source: Semanario

Chihuahua, Chihuahua,- With a US$67 million investment, Cessna Aircraft started operations in their fourth plant in Chihuahua Industrial Park, where they will employ 600 people to produce harnesses assemblies and metallic structures subassemblies for aircrafts. In an interview given during the inauguration, Intermex Chairman of the Board, Jaime Creel Sisniega, announced that a Bell Helicopter plant, property of Textron Corporation, will be inaugurated on June 23. This will be one of the two most important plants working on helicopters assembly and will be located in Intermex Industrial Park. Creel Sisniega said that this operation consolidates Chihuahua as the site where aerospace industry is settling down, because there are already 15 plants here, all of them with positive results from labor, work and business environment.

Source: El Diario

Mexico,- Hitachi Ltd, the largest manufacturer of electronic devices in Japan, will invest within the next three years 70% of the ¥1,4 billion - US$15.4 billion - budgeted for capital expenditures and strategic investments in a group of businesses such as power plants, intelligent networks, cloud computing, batteries and railroad systems. Hiroaki Nakanishi, President, Hitachi, said they will consider mergers and acquisitions to reinforce these operations, aiming for the company to become more aggressive to expansion after years of costs-cutting. Hitachi, an expanding conglomerate of more than 900 firms, has been trying to focus their approach to have a better chance to globally compete with more profitable rivals, such as the German Siemens and General Electric Co.

Source: El Financiero

Mexico City,- With a US$60 million investment the Korean company Wind Corporation will start the construction of a plant to manufacture towers and components for Aeolian energy generators in Matamoros, Tamaulipas. According to information by ProMexico, the full production by Wind Corporation will be exported, mainly to supply the United States market. "With the new plant to manufacture towers and components for Aeolian generators C.S Wind Corporation will generate 700 direct jobs between 2010 and 2014, recruiting mainly engineers and technicians specialized in high technology welding", ProMexico pointed-out.

Source: El Norte

Mexico.- President Felipe Calderon announced an investment to be made by Linamar, a company in the. automotive sector, for US$120 million, as a sample, he said of Mexico's position as a good destination for investments. He said that, according to several rating firms, Mexico outdoes China, India and Brazil in business opening, protection to industrial property and is the best destination for manufactures. He said that thanks to this ranking, 125 global companies are transferring their operations to Mexico, "particularly now when a reconfiguration of the industrial sector all over the world is being experienced after the crisis".

Source: La Crónica

Saltillo, Coahuila,- Chrysler Group's Pentastar Engines Plant, located in Derramadero, will start operations in four months and operation details will be disclosed at a later date. Salvadro Ledon Macias, Government Relations and Corporate Communications Director for Chrysler Group, explained that they have already started the tests period and they will provide further information at a later date regarding production capacity and jobs generated, among other issues. This plant will manufacture 6 cylinder engines for several Chrysler vehicles, including Grand Cherokee. Without providing further details about the new plant, he assured that it will be inaugurated by next September, even if they already are in what is known as the start-up curve.

Source: Vanguardia