Grupo Antolin has opened a new plant in Tlaxcala, Mexico, to manufacture the headliners, doors, pillars and seat backs for the new Audi Q5, manufactured in San José de Chiapa. The company also expects the plant to accommodate other projects for the Volkswagen Puebla. The company has invested EUR35 million (USD37.6 million) in the plant, which will employ around 300 people and have over 40 suppliers, the majority of whom will be Mexican.
Significance: With the opening of the new plant in Tlaxcala, Grupo Antolin’s 8th plant in Mexico, the company says it has achieved one of its strategic aims, the production of doors in North America. The facility is capable of manufacturing 4,000 types of doors, and will, for example, be capable of manufacturing one overhead system and four doors every two minutes and is designed to meet the demand for 170,000 vehicles annually.
The facility has been opened in close collaboration with the customer centre in Germany, which required the mobilisation of representatives from teams in Mexico, Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic. Grupo Antolin transported 121 containers filled with the necessary materials in just three months.
Vehicle manufacturers have invested heavily in the Mexican automotive industry in recent years. The country has evolved to be the world’s 7th largest producer of vehicles and is expected to reach a production of 4.7 million in 2018, up from 3.4 million in 2015. Including the new facility in Tlaxcala, Grupo Antolin will have eight centres and two commercial and technical offices employing more than 4,000 people, in Mexico. The company has also added two facilities in Toluca and Saltillo as a result of the acquisition of Magna’s interior division in August 2015.
