Pirelli installs its first research center in Guanajuato

SILAO, GTO - Pirelli inaugurated in Silao the Italian group's first research and development center in Mexico, a little more than a year after announcing its creation.

This project has an investment of US$15 million, over a period of two years, and has an area of more than 6,000 square meters in addition to the 200,000 square meters of the previous plant.

Adopting the principles of Industry 4.0, Pirelli's new technology hub will strengthen the ecosystem of innovation, continuous learning and development in what is already being called "the Valley of Mentefacturing in Guanajuato".

"Mexico represents for Pirelli a strategic area for activities in North and Central America. In these years, the Silao plant has contributed significantly to the success of Pirelli's strategy in the world," underlined Claudio Zanardo, president and CEO of Pirelli North America.

He also pointed out that in these eleven years, the Silao plant has grown at an incredible speed, going from a production capacity of around 1.5 million tires to a capacity of 7.6 million tires today.

"The new R&D center will allow us to develop premium products using cutting-edge and increasingly sustainable technologies, but also to attract and develop new, highly specialized local talent," said Enrico Verdino, CEO of Pirelli Mexico.

The Silao R&D center, which incorporates cutting-edge technologies for the development of tires designed for the mobility of the future, aims to increase the brand's technological and industrial competitiveness throughout the North American region and enhance the Italian company's ability to serve and support Premium and Prestige brands, mainly in the United States.

The company's new technology hub will also serve as a training hub for highly specialized local talent and will focus on areas such as "Modeling", with the development and implementation of virtual mathematical models useful for predicting vehicle dynamics.