Edscha to set up new plant in Mexico

Global automotive supplier Edscha, a member of the Spanish Gestamp Group, has laid the cornerstone for its new plant in Mexico.

Last month Torsten Greiner, CEO of Edscha, gave the go-ahead for construction of the first Edscha location in Mexico. For the Gestamp Group the new plant will be the sixth in Mexico. Edscha products are slated to come off the production line in the Mexican city of San Luis Potosí as early as December 2016.

“With our new site in Mexico, we come a big step closer to our goal of expanding the global presence of Edscha and taking production to the customer,” said Greiner. “The NAFTA region is a growth market and the site in San Luis Potosí is ideal for us owing to good educational facilities and a well-developed infrastructure. Mexico as a location offers further advantages – one is the resolute free-trade policy which the government pursues. Mexico has free trade agreements with more than 42 countries."

To make entire product range at new plant

In the new plant, Edscha will manufacture its entire product range for numerous international automakers. The first products will be door hinges, door checks, liftgate hinges and hood hinges, with and without pedestrian protection systems. Later on, the local production of powered systems for automatic opening and closing of rear lids and liftgates is also planned.

The first machines will be installed as early as September. They include ultramodern assembly systems and, as a next step, machines and equipment for processing rolled parts and forged parts, and later on for the assembly of plastic parts.

During the first construction phase, the new Edscha plant will occupy around 3,800 square metres; at the end of 2016, around 60 persons will be employed at Edscha in Mexico. The plant is scheduled to grow to as much as 10,000 square meters and some 300 employees during the coming years.

Founded in 1870, Edscha has developed into the world’s largest supplier of hinge systems. It is one of the leading European suppliers of driver controls (pedal boxes and parking brakes) and drives for fully automatic opening and closing of rear lids and liftgates. Under the umbrella of Spanish automotive supplier Gestamp, Edscha services virtually every automaker with its products and know-how from 21 world locations with some 5,200 employees. In the 2015 financial year it achieved sales of 836 million euros.

Also read: Kia Motors sees new traction in Mexico