ContiTech Subsidiary to Establish Mexico Facility

A subsidiary of Continental’s ContiTech Group is establishing a new facility in Mexico that will supply automotive manufacturers in North America. The subsidiary, Benecke-Kaliko AG, will build this new plant in the state of San Luis Potosí, and it will specialise in the production of vehicle interior trim components such as PVC foam laminate and PVC leatherette as well as TPO compact film and expanded vinyl (TEPEO and TEPEO2).

“We’re targeting significant growth in the NAFTA region”, explained Dr. Dirk Leiß, Executive Board chairman of Benecke-Kaliko AG. The new facility will be a wholly owned subsidiary of ContiTech, and an investment of approximately 8 million euros will go into its construction. When the plant becomes operational more than 250 new jobs will be created.

“Most of the companies processing leatherette covering for seats for the American market are already producing in Mexico”, Dr. Leiß added, explaining why the San Luis Potosí site was chosen. Potential customers include not only the “big three” US manufacturers General Motors, Ford and Chrysler, but also European, Japanese and Korean manufacturers producing in the NAFTA region. The new facility will join several other ContiTech companies already operating in the state. Benecke-Kaliko also operates two factories in Germany and one in China, which opened in early 2006.