Swiss specialty chemical corporation Sika AG has started manufacturing its full range of automotive acoustic treatments and body structural products at a new plant in north central Mexico.
The 29,000-square-foot facility in Querétaro, 135 miles northwest of Mexico City, is equipped with an unspecified number of injection molding presses, according to a company official in Mexico reached by telephone.
A spokeswoman for Baar-based Sika in the United States declined to reveal how many presses had been installed, or the size of the investment.
Asked in an email about the clamping force range of the presses, she replied that such information is "proprietary. [The] equipment is suited for all varieties of products, very large and small."
According to a Sept. 28 news release, the plant will supply automakers and suppliers located in Mexico.
Thomas Hasler, Sika's head of industry, added that the Querétaro plant is "strategically located in the middle of the customer network we support in Mexico. This means we are close to the many vehicle and component manufacturing facilities already established in Mexico, as well as the new plants coming on line. As the market grows, so do we."
Sika said the Mexican subsidiary of Faist ChemTec GmbH, which it acquired in early 2018, will be integrated into the Querétaro facility, which includes an integrated logistics center.
The facility will report to Madison Heights, Mich.-based Sika Automotive North America.
In excess of 50 million vehicles assembled every year across the world include such Sika products as adhesives, reinforcement systems and acoustic treatments, according to the company, which employs 18,000 in 101 countries and generated 6.25 billion Swiss francs ($6.31 billion) in 2017.