AGM Automotive begins expansion in Mexico
In October of this year, the plant AGM Automotive, LLC begins operations,
in a surface of 5,000 square meters of Aerotech Industrial Park, located
in the municipality of Colón, in front of Intercontinental Airport
of Querétaro.
The increase of customers and the production of the automotive industry
in Mexican land are some of the factors that attracted the Aerotech
Industrial Park to investment five million US dollars of the American
company AGM Automotive for the development of its plant and additional
projects contemplated for the next two years.
“Regarding the decision to establish in the Aerotech Industrial Park
this was motivated by a detailed study of all available parks and for
the commitment of the owners of this industrial park to provide an
excellent construction service, as well as the development of a
competitive industrial park with the best infrastructure of worldwide
quality. And in this sense, our experience has been excellent,”
said James Stanley, country general manager of AGM Automotive, LLC.
He revealed that the expansion in Mexico has been considered by
Ralf Leist, chief operations officer of AGM Automotive. “He has
a very clear global strategy that requires the opening of two
more industrial plants in Querétaro for other lines of product
during the next year.”
Likewise he commented that, his investment in Querétaro was not
subject to incentives, they plan to approach the State Government
to determine some incentives already managed by other companies,
this in order to maintain global level competitiveness of its plant.
James Stanley informed that AGM Automotive gave its first steps in
Querétaro in November 2015 with the preparation and installation
of machinery and equipment; however, it was since January of this
year when we began to hire staff to train them in order to produce
for its customers starting August 2016.
AGM Automotive, manufacturer of electronic components and LED
lighting systems for the automotive market will be in the Aerotech
Industrial Park with seven other tenants: Brose, Magna, Nachi,
Certus, Belcorp, WireMasters and Airbus Helicopters.
It is worth mentioning that, Grupo American Industries, Abitat
Constructora and the local company Impulsora Queretana form the
strategic alliance that in September of 2012 opened the multisectorial
Aerotech Industrial Park of 140 hectares.
A German in Tlaxcala
A little over a year -April 2015- of being inaugurated the plant
of the German Company Kathrein Mobilcom Mexico in the Industrial
City of Xicoténcatl I (CIX) in Tetla de la Solidaridad, Tlaxcala,
has generated 300 jobs.
“In the next two years, a very important part of our business,
dedicated to the production and assembly of antennas for the
automotive sector, will be developing as part of our operation,
whereby, it is contemplated to expand our investment and provide
greater job opportunities and growth,” declared John R. Capobianco Mucci,
executive and operations director of Kathrein Mobilcom Mexico.
Among the factors that motivated the German company to invest
around 26 million euros in CIX, stands out the support of the
State Government, as well as the personalized attention received since
its first approach to the entity. “Another important factor was
the follow-up that has been given to the development of the project,
the incentives, competitive advantages and the relationship between
both authorities and with government agencies and educational
institutions involved, which together have supported us in the
consolidation and success of our project in Mexico,” pointed out
Capobianco Mucci.
He also expressed that the industrial parks in Mexico have all
the necessary resources, considerable installation costs and labour;
excellent location in the geographical map that provides access
to the most important markets and, above all, quality and dedication
to their workforce, “which I think, are important aspects to
the success of any project.”
He concluded saying that, the rise and consolidation of the automotive
sector and other industries in Mexico will become topics of influence
for the decision of companies interested in locating their
operations in this country.
Bombardier in Querétaro
The story of success of Bombardier in Mexico began in 2006, when
the company decided to expand its manufacturing global mark. After
evaluating different countries, they finally decided to settle
in Mexican lands, in Industrial Park El Marqués in Querétaro.
Its macroeconomic indicators, its infrastructure, industrial
experience, trained human resources, its same time zone as
corporate offices in Bombardier Canada, as well as North
American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), are some of the reasons
that motivated the Canadian company to settle in Mexico in 2006,
revealed in interview Pilar Abaroa Álvarez, head of communications
and senior spokesperson of Bombardier Aerostructures and Engineering
Services Mexico.
Likewise, she said that they choose the State of Querétaro,
located in the north part of Mexico City, because it offers
industrial quality, education, infrastructure, trained population
and politics of economic development, as well as a great
commitment of authorities with aerospace industry development.
“These considerations motivated us to settle in Industrial
Park El Marqués and subsequently in Querétaro´s Aerospace Park.”
Although for now Bombardier has no expansion plans to other
States of the country, its spokesperson declared that all
entities in which aerospace industry is developing, as Baja
California, Sonora y Chihuahua, to mention a few, provide
comparative advantages for the settlement of any company of
the sector.
Also, Abaroa Álvarez agreed that the industrial drive in
Mexico is what has encouraged the investment of companies
as Bombardier in industrial parks. “In our case, within our
new industrial plants in Querétaro we led, design, manufacture,
assemble and machine major metallic structures and of composite
material, as well as electric harnesses for the different
aircrafts that form our product portfolio. In that way, we carry
on a great number of activities that allows us to improve our
internal processes, generating efficiencies that benefit all
the productive chain and therefore, our final products,”
commented Pilar Abaroa.
She added that the continuous growth of Mexican aerospace
industry is one of the reasons why new companies could
invest in the country and choose to settle in industrial
parks. “Likewise, in 2020 Mexico could occupy the tenth
position of the ranking of countries that are part of the sector.
In this regard, we consider that it exist a great potential for
the installation of more international companies, as well as for
the growth of local providers, which benefits of this boost, by
positioning as providers Tier 2 and Tier 3.”
