Flying into Monterrey, Mexico, the first thing you'll notice is the serene & green mountain ranges all around you. After getting off the plane, the next thing you notice will be the restroom you just missed before joining the international customs line, as your brain hurriedly looks for another one. But we put that crisis behind us before joining employees from ZC Rubber for a special event.

Tire Review recently flew down to Mexico to witness the groundbreaking of ZC Rubber's third overseas manufacturing facility—and to get to the site where the facility will be, we had to take a short drive to the nearby city of Saltillo, specifically stopping in the Alianza Industrial Park. Though it's mostly a field for now, soon it will be home to ZC's third international manufacturing facility, and at a size of 600,000 sq. m., this plant is going to be big. For the ceremony, ZC executives and local government officials took turns thanking one another for the opportunity, and celebrating what they expect to be a fruitful partnership, before digging in with gilded shovels.

ZC said this plant will be highly automated and follow the company's "future factory" model. The company said this automation increases speed, safety, consistency, and warehousing and shipping capabilities. Despite the advancements, ZC expects to employ about 2,000 locals at the plant when it's up and running. Speaking of, the timeline to get things running is short. The company expects the first tires to roll off the line by late 2025 or early 2026.

"Actually, I already got some orders," said Henry Shen, ZC Rubber's vice president and secretary of the board of directors. Shen sat down with Tire Review for an interview during our time in Mexico, to break down details of this new project. He said even before construction began, customers were showing interest. "I already got some orders when I flew from Shanghai to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to here," Shen added. "People like Mexican products because there is a much shorter lead time and they can get tires within several days. The other very important reason for U.S. or Mexico customers this what they call a 'sustainable supply.' Thailand, Vietnam and China all have tariffs andy they travel a long distance. There's a lot of uncertainty there.”

The plant is expected to have a starting annual capacity of more than 13,000,000 passenger car tires and over 50,000 tons of off-the-road (OTR) tires, which Shen tells us will help supplement growing demand in the North American and Latin American markets.

"We studied a lot of places. This whole program started two years ago with people coming here to see different options,” he said.

In our interview, Shen also explains how ZC settled on Saltillo as the site to plant its flag, what goes into an automated facility like this, future plans the company has for this area and more. 

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