South Carolina-based automotive components manufacturer Schaeffler Group North America has opened a second production facility in Huejotzingo, Puebla, Mexico.

The new plant will produce torque converters for U.S. and Japanese automakers with 172,000-square feet of high-tech manufacturing space and will employ approximately 550 employees.

“This second Puebla facility represents the demand for our new torque converter technologies and it provides an ideal location for future growth near our customers,” said Marc McGrath, president of Schaeffler Group North America, adding that the company is already developing plans for a future expansion of the new plant.

The new Mexican facility, he said, “is built upon 40 years of know-how, which is illustrated by its highly sophisticated manufacturing technology, skilled tool design team, and research and development center.”

The company’s original Puebla facility, with 240,000-square feet of production space and approximately 1,100 employees, manufactures clutch discs, conventional, self-adjusting and double clutches, actuators, and solid and dry dual mass flywheels for several global automakers.

Schaeffler Group North America is a subsidiary of Germany’s Schaeffler Group, which generated $1.08 billion in sales in 2014. With around 84,000 employees, the parent maintains approximately 170 locations in 50 countries.

In addition to its two plants in Mexico, Schaeffler operates manufacturing facilities in South Carolina, Missouri, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada, as well as research and development centers in Troy, Michigan; Fort Mill, South Carolina; Wooster, Ohio; and Puebla, Mexico.