Phillips Industries and Phillips Connect have moved production to a reconfigured and newly constructed 500,000 sq.-ft. campus in Arteaga, Mexico.

The new plant will produce products for the companies’ customers in North America, employing 2,100 people by the end of this year.

The company has been producing parts in Mexico since 2007, moving to a larger location in Arteaga in 2015. Company CEO Rob Phillips said in recent media interviews that the company is confident Mexico is the best option for North American production. Its China operation will focus on that domestic market, and California will remain home to its headquarters and R&D, but he observed the state has become less business-friendly in recent years.

Speaking during Heavy-Duty Aftermarket Week earlier this year, Phillips said moving production to Mexico in 2007 was the best decision of his career.

“We’re very bullish on Mexico,” he said at the time. “I’m a huge fan of the workers, the level of experience, the college system is spectacular, you don’t have labor issues.”

He said Phillips’ Mexico plant is the cleanest and best-managed factory it operates anywhere in the world. He proudly said Phillips Connect is the first telematics manufacturer to produce its products in the country.

Production lines have been relocated from the company’s plant in Santa Fe Springs, Calif. The company is also near-shoring Phillips Connect parts production from China.

“Our experience in Mexico has proven to me that it’s the absolute best place to manufacture Phillips and Phillips Connect products,” Phillips said in a press release. “The facility is the cleanest, most well-organized, and the best managed we have anywhere in the world. Most importantly, the people are outstanding.  Our current workforce and those ready to come to work for us can be relied upon to carry our success forward. We depend on that as we continue to expand here in Mexico.”