From Staff & Wire Reports
Michelin brand passenger and light truck/SUV tires are now being produced in Mexico for the very first time.
Michelin North America upgraded its production facilities at its plant in Queretaro, Mexico, to allow Michelin-brand tire production.
“In the past three years, Michelin’s replacement tire sales in Mexico have jumped more than 60 percent, outpacing the market more than six times,” said Jim Micali, MNA chairman and president. “Mexico is one of the top 10 tire markets in the world, growing at almost twice the rate of the U.S. market. Until today, every Michelin-brand tire sold in Mexico was imported. It is crucial for us to have in-country production to meet the phenomenal demand in Mexico and to increase our total North American capacity for Michelin brand’s high-quality tires.
“Consumers have extremely high expectations for their Michelin tires,” said Micali. “We are confident that every tire that rolls off the line here in Queretaro will live up to those expectations.”
Demand for Michelin tires is growing in other Mexican tire segments, the company said. Just two months ago, MNA announced the construction of a new plant in Queretaro, adjacent to MNA’s passenger tire plant there, to produce tread rubber for retreading Michelin’s commercial truck tires.
That new plant will open in spring 2007.
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