A French-based global automotive supplier has broken ground on a 226,000-squre foot facility in McAllen in what its president of North American operations says is a start of a partnership “that will span decades.”
Jeffrey Shay, an executive for Valeo, said his company’s $225 million investment “is a ground-breaking moment for the city of McAllen.” Valeo designs, manufactures and sells advanced components, systems and software to major automakers in the United States and in global markets. Its arrival in McAllen brings to the city and the Rio Grande Valley a major player in automobile technology and is a breakthrough for a region wanting to be part of the auto industry.
Shay looked over a crowd to college students who attended the late-March groundbreaking and said, “these young people now have a path to automotive engineering right here in McAllen.”
‘Flag Of Innovation’
The Valeo manufacturing facility will be located on the corner of Idela Avenue and Ware Road and is situated within the Commodities Integrated Logistics Nearshoring Industrial Park.
Its operations are expected to eventually include 500 employees, with work at the plant expected to begin in 2027. A major focus of the McAllen Valeo plant will be production of automotive components for General Motors, which has several manufacturing facilities in northern Mexico. Being in closer proximity to major GM plants in Coahuila and San Luis Potosi gives Valeo a strategic advantage in having an auto supplier plant in McAllen.
Valeo’s beginnings go back to the 1920s with a small workshop in Paris. By World War II, the company was a major supplier of brake linings and clutches. Today, Valeo specialized in powertrain electrification and driver assistance systems. Developing solutions for electrical vehicles to increase range and manage battery thermal systems is a major focus of the work done by Valeo.
“We move more than just loose soil today,” Shay said at the McAllen groundbreaking. “We are planting a flag of innovation.”
In doing so, the future of advanced manufacturing now includes McAllen, said the city’s mayor, Javier Villalobos.
“As mayor, one of the biggest things I want is to have jobs and economic opportunities and development that keeps increasing and giving back,” Villalobos said. “And that’s what I’m seeing here today.”
‘Defining Moment’
The 500 high-wage jobs Valeo will provide in McAllen will include technicians for assembly lines, engineers, quality control specialists and logistics personnel. The high-skilled jobs will focus on producing advanced vehicle computing systems.
A summary of the facility’s operations says the plant will focus on producing the brain for intelligent cars as in sensors and cameras for autonomous driving. The jobs at the McAllen plant will be designed to support the transition to electric and software-driven vehicles. The facility will support large-scale orders from automotive customers like General Motors.
The announcement of the Valeo plant coming to McAllen follows recent news of a major refinery being built at the Port of Brownsville. They are all signs of the sort of major industrial companies the region has long sought now finding the Valley as a place where they want to do business.
“It’s a defining moment, not just for McAllen but for the Rio Grande Valley,” said Elizabeth Suarez, the chief executive officer for local chamber and economic development corporation.