Leoni opens new plant in Durango, Mexico

Leoni has recently gained share of the commercial vehicle market in America and continues to grow despite the automotive industry crisis. To be able to handle the rising project volume, the Company has commissioned a new production facility in the Mexican state of Durango and has thereby strengthened its strategic position in the NAFTA area. The plant, which covers an area of about 20,000 square metres, will initially produce mainly wiring systems for commercial vehicle manufacturers based in the United States. Production is currently ramping up with about 150 employees; the Durango plant is, by the end of 2009, to employee more than 1,000 people in the manufacture of cable harnesses for new orders from the commercial vehicle and passenger car industry. The modern factory in Durango, one of Mexico’s commercially most attractive regions, was built in just six months and is already the Leoni Group’s 3rd production facility in this Central American country. “The good infrastructure, a large number of available skilled people as well as operating costs that can be planned long term argued in favour of the location,” Uwe H. Lamann, member of the Management Board in charge of the Wiring Systems division, emphasized. “The production facility in Durango is of major significance to our expansion strategy and relationships with customers on the US market.” Moreover, Leoni was also able to further improve its overall cost situation in Mexico by building the plant. Attending the formal ceremony to open this important plant on 7 November 2008 were also, along with the management of Leoni’s Wiring Systems division, the governor of Durango, Ismael Hernández Deras, and the German ambassador to Mexico, Roland Michael Wegener.