Advantages of Manufacturing in Saltillo, Coahuila
View this video tour of The Offshore Group’s La Angostura Industrial Park:
Advantages of manufacturing in Saltillo include a perfect location from which to supply Mexico’s largest automotive manufacturing industry cluster; Saltillo is nicknamed “Little Detroit,” access to well-educated, skilled and advantageously priced Mexico labor; Saltillo’s similarly qualified workforce typically costs twenty five percent less than that of Monterrey, and reduced utility costs; Saltillo is a “mile high” city. Its moderate temperatures year round greatly reduce the cost of energy required to provide air conditioning during the summer and heating during the winter months.
Automotive supplier opportunities are generated by the Saltillo General Motors plant, the Complejo Industrial Ramos Arizpe (The Ramos Arizpe Industrial Complex), which exports vehicles to Japan, Canada, and Central America. Chrysler also has a significant presence in the city.
Suppliers to companies such as Lennox International, Carrier de México, Freightliner, Polaris Industries, Navistar, Lay Z Boy, Whirlpool, General Electric, Mabe and others make Saltillo their home.
Among the companies occupying The Offshore Group’s La Angostura Industrial Park are Cooper Standard Automotive, Camfil Farr, Gyrus Medical, OKE GmbH, Miner Rail Products Division, Neapco, Senior Aerospace, Turck, Inc., Meco Corporation, GE Unison and others.
Saltillo: Quick Mexico industrial site selection overview.
Mexico Industrial Location
- proximity to the border – 180 miles to Laredo, Texas
- central location for distribution into U.S. and Mexican markets
- Saltillo is on the “NAFTA Highway”
- access to the seaports of Houston and Tampico
- just 50 miles away from Mexico’s industrial center, Monterrey (population 3.5 million)
- proximity to huge base of industrial suppliers, facilitates just-in-time production
- “mile high” city with temperate, arid climate
Mexico Labor
- pro-business environment, strong work ethic
- competitive, stable, educated work force, with one of Mexico’s highest productivity rates
- historically cooperative relationship with unions
- very low average employee turnover
- strong connections with the local business community
Quality Industrial Infrastructure
- dependable sources of energy
- huge base of local suppliers and materials, including several foundries
- excellent transportation routes – (rail, 4-6 lane divided highways, international airport 50
- miles away in Monterrey; local domestic airport)
Educational Resources
- Mexico’s highest average level of education
- 17 universities, 11 research centers and 23 technical schools (There are more technical schools in Saltillo than anywhere else in Mexico).
- a campus of the Monterrey Institute of Technology, accredited by South American Colleges and Schools (SACS), one of few Mexican schools whose credits transfer to American universities.
