Brembo building brake foundry in Mexico

By Stephen Downer, Special to Tire Business

ESCOBEDO, Mexico — Brembo S.p.A. is to start building a $93 million cast iron brake disc foundry in northern Mexico within weeks, its chairman said Oct. 20.

Brembo Chairman Alberto Bombassei said the foundry will stand next to a $36 million aluminum brake caliper plant that he officially opened earlier in October.

The Bergamo, Italy-based company said the 269,000-sq.-ft. foundry will have a capacity of about 100,000 tons a year, employ 200 and be in operation by year-end 2017.

The ultra-modern caliper plant in Escobedo covers 337,000 square feet. It will have an installed production capacity of 2 million calipers a year and eventually employ 500, Brembo said.

The plan is to supply light vehicle assembly plants in Mexico operated primarily by U.S., European and Asian original equipment manufacturers (OEM), according to the company.

However, one of several Brembo spokespersons who addressed reporters said the facility is already making calipers for Tesla Motors Inc., which does not make cars in Mexico.

“Our goal is to localize as much production as possible,” Daniel Sandberg, president and CEO, Brembo North America Inc., told reporters, explaining Brembo's strategy of manufacturing as close as possible to its OEM customers' assembly operations.

He expected the new plant to be “swamped” with work. Brembo said the facility will add $100 million in sales to the company's bottom line.

According to Mr. Sandberg, North America accounts for 35 percent of the company's revenue.

Asked at a post-opening ceremony news conference whether Brembo plans to invest similar amounts in its other North American plants — in Homer, Michigan, and Apodaca, northern Mexico — Mr. Sandberg said:

“Over the past seven or eight years, we've spent upwards of $117 million in Homer and have also spent a lot of money in Apodaca.”