U.S. electrodomestics company Whirlpool has announced a US $120-million investment at its plant in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila.
Most of the amount will be used to expand the manufacturing facility by 30,000 square meters by 2024, increasing capacity for a new production line for french door refrigerators and creating 1,000 new jobs. The factory currently employs 2,945 workers.
Whirlpool plans to produce 300,000 of the french door refrigerators per year once the line is in operation.
The remaining $10 million will boost production of the company’s side by side fridges by about 10% from 2022, directly generating 130 jobs.
The investment takes the company’s total spend in Mexico this year to over $150 million following a $28 million commitment to plants in Apodaca, Nuevo León, and Celaya, Guanajuato, which will create an estimated 280 jobs.
Regional president Juan Carlos Puente said developing local economies is a priority for the company. “For Whirlpool it is essential to contribute to the development of the regions in which we are present. We are delighted to be able to carry out this important investment project … that will allow us to provide the best quality of electrical appliances, grow as a company and create jobs that support the development of the inhabitants of the region,” he said.
However, Puente added that most of what is produced at the plant would be destined for foreign shores. “A large amount of what we are doing in Ramos Arizpe is for export, for the United States and Canada; over 90% of this investment will go there … We export to more than 100 countries from here and we want to continue expanding our horizons,” he said.
Whirlpool is a Fortune 500 company with annual revenues of close to $20 billion. It was founded in Michigan in 1911 and entered Mexico in 2002.
With reports from Forbes México, El Financiero and Milenio
