Freightliner LLC, Portland OR, has announced plans to construct a new $300 million truck manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, in northern Mexico.
Groundbreaking is planned for the second quarter of 2007 with start of production planned for early 2009.
Dedicated to the production of Freightliner and Sterling trucks, the one-million-square-foot facility will provide additional capacity to accommodate Freightliner's long-range product planning including an expected upturn in industry demand in 2009.
"This new facility underscores our confidence in the NAFTA truck market, and our bullish mid-term outlook for industry recovery post-2007," said Freightliner LLC President and CEO Chris Patterson.
The Saltillo plant is the second Freightliner LLC manufacturing facility in Mexico, joining the Santiago Tianguistenco plant which produces Freightliner-branded heavy- and medium-duty trucks for domestic Mexico sales as well as export to Latin America, the United States, and Canada. The facility in Saltillo is located near an existing Chrysler plant, which offers opportunities for synergy such as the extension of a supplier park and railroad terminal, Freightliner said.
The 740 acre site will also include a PDI/transporter center and test track, as well as room for future expansion. The plant could produce up to 30,000 trucks annually and employ up to 1,600 production and management personnel.