CHICAGO, Ill. – ThyssenKrupp continues to expand in North America. Dr. Heinrich Hiesinger, ThyssenKrupp CEO; Dr. Rafael Moreno Valle, governor of the State of Puebla, Mexico; and the German ambassador to Mexico Viktor Elbling have inaugurated a new components plant in Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico, which will manufacture steering systems for the automotive industry. The new facility in Mexico has the capacity to produce more than 1 million steering columns, more than 7 million steering shafts and more than 45 million cold-forged steering parts per year for the North American market. ThyssenKrupp has invested approximately 90 million euros (approximately $98 million USD) in the new production facility.
Dr. Karsten Kroos, CEO of the Components Technology business area at ThyssenKrupp, commented, “Our order books are full so we are constantly expanding our production capacities in Mexico and the U.S. In the past three fiscal years, we have invested around 185 million euros here. Now, we want to raise the tempo even more. To fulfill 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, ThyssenKrupp opened a new front axle assembly facility in Puebla. The company also is currently building an axle assembly plant 70 kilometers 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 as well.
With this new steering plant, ThyssenKrupp 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.
