Whirlpool to invest $55 mn in new plant in Mexico

The new plant, located in the city of Apodaca, will begin operation in 2010. It will create about 1,100 new jobs, Whirlpool Mexico executive Francisco Reyes Pacheco said in a press conference Thursday.

The plant will manufacture refrigerators for both the domestic market and export, Reyes said.

Nuevo Leon Governor Rodrigo Medina said his administration was committed to ensuring there was social and labour peace in the state.

"We also have a commitment to investors to promote regulatory improvements to be increasingly more attractive and competitive, to offer legal security, business security and physical security," Medina said.

Whirlpool's investment will offer 1,100 families opportunities to improve their lives, the governor said.

Whirlpool de Mexico began operating in 1987 and currently employs about 8,000 people.

Whirlpool Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer and marketer of major home appliances, has annual revenues of about $19 billion and employs 70,000 people at 69 manufacturing and technology research centres around the world.