Irish automotive technology supplier Aptiv will invest US $40 million in a new factory in El Salto, Jalisco, 29 kilometers from Guadalajara.  

The new plant will expand Aptiv’s existing operations in Mexico, where the company is already active in 8 other states. It will be their first factory in Jalisco, and will be dedicated to manufacturing parts for electric vehicles.

“Jalisco is on course,” Jalisco governor Enrique Alfaro Ramírez said in June 13 press conference. “Jalisco has the confidence of the private sector to continue investing and we appreciate that […] it represents a commitment to not slow down.” 

Alfaro said that the new plant will create 2,200 jobs. Operations are expected to start in September and they are ready to start hiring, he added. 

The plant is expected to produce an annual average of 10 million parts for the North American market, which will be assembled in at least 464,000 electric cars each year. 

“We are very happy with the opening of this plant in El Salto, Jalisco,” Aptiv Latin America president Arturo Álvarez said to reporters. “Without a doubt, this will be a world-class plant.”

He added that the factory will manufacture products for customers in Mexico and abroad, and will establish Jalisco as a leader in the electric car industry. 

In Mexico, the Irish company develops and manufactures technologies for signal and power distribution, advanced electronics, and active safety. They also develop and manufacture leading infotainment and in-cabin user-experience platforms, as well as electronic control units. 

According to Aptiv’s website its Mexican operations – which employ over 72,000 people – carry out more than 300 new product launches per year, and ship 11.7 billion parts across the world.

After supply chain disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have relocated their operations to Mexico from Asia. The trend, known as nearshoring, has already led to an upswing in industrial investment across the country.

With reports from Milenio