A strategic alliance between German and Mexican companies is constructing an aerospace manufacturing plant in Hermosillo that will employ 500 workers when it opens this October.
AT Engine is a joint effort between the German company Aerotech Peissenberg and the Mexican enterprise Grupo Punto Alto.
Construction on the AT Engine facility began in 2017. The two companies are investing $297 million dollars in the construction of the facility, and in 2018 the Mexican National Bank of Foreign Trade (Bancomext) added a loan of $102 million dollars to the effort.
AT Engine will not only boost Sonora’s aerospace industry, it will add a new level of manufacturing expertise as it produces state-of-the-art, high-precision machined aircraft turbine components for General Electric (GE) and structural rocket components for the European Space Agency.
Sonoran workers will produce parts for GE’s new Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion (LEAP) aircraft turbine. The next-generation engine component is so advanced that it makes little noise, has reduced weight and cuts engine emissions 50 percent over currently used turbines.
GE also has a joint partnership with French company CFM International to manufacture the turbines in France.
Sonoran officials are optimistic about the success of the AT Engine plant and the higher-paying specialized jobs it will create. In addition, the facility should also attract investment in related local and regional supply chain partners.
And Sonora Governor Claudia Pavlovich continued to strengthen Sonora-Germany relations last week in a meeting with the German Ambassador to Mexico Peter Tempel.