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Mannesmann Sachs Opens Converter Plant in Mexico

18 March 1999

Mannesmann Sachs Opens Converter Plant in Mexico

    DUSSELDORF, Germany, March 18 -- On March 17, 1999,
Mannesmann Sachs opened a new plant for the production of torque converters
for automatic gearboxes in Ramos Arizpe / Saltillo, Mexico.  With factories in
Guadalajara and Mexico City, and the pneumatic spring producer Stabilus in
Ramos Arizpe.  Sachs Automotive Mexico S.A. de C.V. is already the fourth
Sachs plant opened in Mexico.  In Mexico, Mannesmann Automotive (represented
by Sachs and VDO) currently employs more than 3,100 people.
    Investments for Ramos Arizpe, the largest of the new Mannesmann Sachs
plants, amount to US $45 million.  Until now, four hundred new jobs have
already been created at the new site.
    With the new converter factory, Sachs continues to build up a strong
position in the NAFTA market, where 85 percent of the 15 million vehicles
annually produced are equipped with automatic gearboxes.  In his address at
the official opening of the plant, the group's CEO, Dr. Harald Klotzbach,
points out the strategic importance and growth potential of the converter
division.  The new plant is meant to become the largest converter factory
within the Sachs Group, with the latest technology and superior-quality
products helping to establish a strong position in the American market.