The firms currently employs approximately 4,500 Mexicans at its stamping and assembly plant in Hermosillo, Chihuahua and Cuautitlán Izcalli. As a result of the expansion of the Hermosillo plant, Ford is expected to create a thousand direct and approximately three thousand indirect jobs. The new vehicle lines that will be produced, which include versions with hybrid motors, will be destined for both the national and the US export market. The design of unit with the most advanced technology, which make more efficient use of fuel and are environmentally friendly, involved the participation of over 100 Mexican engineers who proved that Mexico has the talent, training and capacity for innovation to generate competitive, top-quality products at the international level.

Ford’s investment will contribute to strengthening the national automobile sector, making it more dynamic and promoting the global projection of the quality of Mexican engineers and technicians.

The annual awards were based on meeting and exceeding defined criteria related to overall performance and improvement.

•Faurecia’s emissions control technologies facility in Hermosillo, Mexico, was recognized for outstanding performance for safety by achieving zero lost-time accidents, industry-leading quality performance, and employee empowerment efforts that resulted in more than 61 implemented improvement ideas per person.
•Faurecia’s interior systems facility in Fountain Inn, S.C., was recognized as the most improved plant for consistency in safety and achieving zero lost-time accidents, improvements in quality, and increasing implemented improvement ideas per person by 70 percent. This is the second consecutive year that the Fountain Inn plant has been honored as the most improved plant in North America.

“Being named the most improved plant two years in a row makes us even more determined to continue our success with the goal of receiving the outstanding performance award next year,” said Martin Round, plant manager of Faurecia’s Fountain Inn facility. “We are extremely proud of all the hours and dedication our team has put into improving our site’s production in each of the categories.”

In addition to the plant awards, Faurecia also honored two sites for their outstanding efforts in community service. As part of its FUELS (Faurecia Unites Employees for Local Service) program the Hermosillo, Mexico and Northwood, Ohio, plants were honored for donating 18,245 lbs and 4,933 lbs of food respectively to local food banks in September 2010.

“We are proud of how well all of our sites have performed and honored to be able to recognize those sites that have gone above and beyond this year,” said Michael Heneka, president of Faurecia North America. “The awards program has been a great driver in bringing employees together, with everyone working toward achieving one common goal and continuously improving our overall performance as a company.”

Faurecia is the sixth-largest automotive supplier in the world and the ninth-largest in North America. It specializes in automotive seating, emissions control technologies, interior systems and automotive exteriors. The annual regional awards recognize exceptional performance and instill a sense of community and pride in the plants that excel in the required categories.

For the latest updates on Faurecia activities throughout North America, connect with the company at www.facebook.com/faureciaNA and www.twitter.com/faurecia_NA.

About Faurecia North America

Faurecia North America had sales of $3.4 billion in 2010. The Group has 32 production sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico and employs more than 10,000 people in the region. It has four technical and development centers, situated in Auburn Hills, Holland and Troy, Mich., and in Columbus, Ind., as well as a customer center in Toledo, Ohio.

About Faurecia

Faurecia is the world’s sixth-largest automotive supplier with four key Business Groups: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, Interior Systems and Automotive Exteriors. In 2010, the Group posted total sales of $18.22 billion. The company is headquartered in Nanterre, France, with its North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. It employs 75,000 people in 33 countries at 238 sites and 38 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange. For more information, visit: www.faurecia.com.

SOURCE Faurecia North America

The mayors of Fredericton and Mississauga in Canada; Hermosillo and Querétaro in Mexico; Richmond, Virginia and Wooster, Ohio, in the US, accepted awards on behalf of their cities.

FDI American Cities of the Future recognises cities which have the best prospects for inward investment, economic development and business expansion. The results were released in the April / May issue of FDI Magazine and the awards ceremony was held on Wednesday, June 29 in Washington, DC. The full results are available online, www.fdiintelligence.com/Rankings.

Courtney Fingar, editor of FDI Magazine, commented: “The Americas are home to many of the world’s most established investment destinations as well as some of the fastest emerging ones, making it a highly competitive and diverse region for FDI. Given the strength of the rankings methodology, large field of competitor cities and sheer scale of such a benchmarking exercise, those cities marked for recognition deserve to be proud of their efforts. FDI Magazine congratulates them.”

MACCLESFIELD (U.K.) — At the 49th International Paris Air Show, worldwide thermal processing specialists Bodycote today announced the planned opening, in the third quarter 2011, of a new vacuum heat treatment facility in northwest Mexico. The first of its kind in the region, the facility will provide outsourced specialist processing support to major aerospace and power generation suppliers in the area, including those that serve the likes of Rolls-Royce, Honeywell, Siemens, along with other aerospace and power generation manufacturers in the region.

Bodycote’s core business is to provide services that improve the properties of metals and alloys, thereby making products stronger and safer. The company plays a vital role in the aerospace supply chain.

Its new plant, located in the city of Empalme in the State of Sonora, is a result of Bodycote’s recently signed long-term agreement with Trac Precision, a key supplier to Rolls-Royce and Siemens.

Under this agreement, Bodycote will support Trac’s Mexico operations with vacuum brazing and heat treating. In addition, the plant will be a more cost-effective option for other aviation manufacturers within the region, enabling them to provide complete processing without transporting parts back to the U.S. This streamlines their supply
chain by reducing labor and logistical costs, improving turnaround times and reduces their capital employed.

Bodycote’s facility will be housed at the Bella Vista Industrial Park, which is operated by The Offshore Group, the largest provider of outsourced manufacturing support, or “shelter” services, in Mexico.

The new Mexico location will maintain full aerospace accreditation and prime approvals supported by Nadcap and AS9100.

About Bodycote

With more than 170 accredited facilities in 27 countries, Bodycote is the world’s largest provider of thermal processing services. Through heat treatment, metal joining, surface technology and Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), Bodycote improves the properties of metals and alloys, extending the life of vital components for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, defence, automotive, power generation, oil & gas, construction, medical and transportation. Customers in all of these industries have entrusted their products to Bodycote’s care for more than 30 years. For more information, visit www.bodycote.com.

The key focus of the collaboration will be work to support the development of an aerospace manufacturing cluster in Sonora.

Mr. Moises Gomez Reyna, Secretary of Economy of the State of Sonora added: “This long-term engagement with Rolls-Royce supports our turbine components manufacturing strategy, which aims to provide casting, machining and special processing capabilities in a single cluster. This will allow our aerospace suppliers to work on increasingly complex components; making them more capable and competitive globally.”

Mike Orris, Rolls Royce Chief Procurement Officer said “Rolls-Royce is a global company and requires a globally competitive supply chain in order to effectively respond to the needs of our worldwide customer base. Our cooperation with State of Sonora will help us do that to achieve this important objective.”

“Sargent is a key supplier of flight-critical components to UTC’s Hamilton Sundstrand, Pratt & Whitney, and Sikorsky companies,” said Scott Still, president, Sargent Aerospace & Defense.
“Recognition from these companies and UTC as a whole validates the emphasis we place on highly engineered solutions and outstanding customer service.”

According to Hamilton Sundstrand, Sargent’s Guaymas, Mexico facility is the first in that country to win the UTC Supplier Gold distinction. It is located in The Offshore Group’s Roca Fuerte Industrial Park.

“UTC’s Supplier Gold recognition program was established to acknowledge superior performance over a 12-month period in the areas of quality, delivery, lean and customer satisfaction,” said Robert Murray, vice president of supply chain at Hamilton Sundstrand. “Sargent’s performance over the past year has been exceptional.”

Sargent has adopted UTC’s lean assessment and other tools across all facilities and hopes to achieve Supplier Gold status at American and Canadian facilities during the next 12 months.

About Sargent
Founded in 1920, Sargent Aerospace & Defense is a premier global supplier of precision-engineered customized components as well as flight-critical aftermarket aviation services. Leveraging 90 years of expertise, Sargent directly contributes to the safe operation of countless commercial and military aircraft and rotorcraft, submarines and land-based vehicles. Sargent’s continuing investment in people, assets, technology and process quality ensures excellence and is integral to the company’s commitment to customers and their end-users. For more information, visit www.sargentaerospace.com

In the same vein, but as small towns, is Guaymas.

The capital of Sonora is located at the city level of Tuxtla Gutierrez, San Luis Potosi, Matamoros and Torreon.

According to a statement from the Chiapas State Government, the FDI Intelligence study considered a database of the investment intelligence division of the magazine in 450 cities in North and South America-evaluating six categories.

“Economic potential, human resources, cost-benefit, quality of life, infrastructure and business friendly environment. ”

For each of these categories a list was made with the cities in America that are most prominent in these specific areas, which in turn take into account 90 variables such as wages, export and import costs, perceptions of corruption and unemployment.

Oil prices, logistics, number of patents, number of universities, hospital coverage, crime rates, air connectivity, etc.

According to the government of Chiapas, this is the first time that such publication makes a list for Latin America.