SILAO, Mexico (June 20, 2013) — Pirelli Tyre S.p.A.'s plant in Silao produced its 1 millionth tire this week, 54 weeks after opening officially.
To mark the occasion, Pirelli invited Guanajuato Gov. Miguel Márquez Márquez and Guanajuato Secretary for Economic Development Héctor López Santillana to the plant for a ceremony with Pirelli NAFTA Region CEO Paolo Ferrari, Pirelli's Industrial Operations Director Giuliano Menassi, Pirelli Mexico CEO Tom Gravalos, and Pirelli Mexico Industrial Director Fernando Madeira Toledo.
The plant is Silao was inaugurated on May 31, 2012, by then Mexican President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa.
Tires produced in Silao serve the U.S., Canadian, and the growing Mexican markets, Pirelli said.
The plant's annual capacity is scheduled to reach 3.5 million tires by 2015 and 5.5 million by 2017, Pirelli said, by which time the Italian company's investment there will have reached $400 million.
Employment at full capacity is slated to be 1,800, Pirelli said.
In addition to the factory, Pirelli is supporting the Silao community with sponsorship of an InterCampus soccer program for local children along with a planned technical training facility near the factory.
Mr. Ferrari thanked the plant's employees for their hard work in ramping up the plant to hit 1 million tires "in record time" and also acknowledged the efforts local, state and federal authorities in advancing the project.
"With the support of its populace," Guanajuato Gov. Márquez commented, "the state government and partners like Pirelli, we are together building a prosperous Guanajuato rich with opportunities that are rightfully deserved."