Volvo’s truck deal in Mexico is driving millions in new investment at Matamoros plant

By José Martinez

A plastic molding company is investing millions of dollars in Matamoros and Monterrey this year as it expands its operations in the region, including the creation of Volvo heavy-truck sleeper roofs starting next year.

Core Molding Technologies Inc., a publicly traded Ohio-based parts molder incorporated in 1996 with facilities in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, expects to spend anywhere from $18 to $20 million this year as part of its deepening investment in Mexico.

The Mexico expansion will “position us closer to our customers and align our business to capitalize on long-term growth opportunities,” the company’s president and chief executive officer, Eric Palomaki, said on a Tuesday conference call with analysts. Core declined to comment.

Company financial data released Tuesday shows that Core made $9.6 million in capital expenditures tied to the Mexico expansion and recorded another $3.4 million in expansion-related expenses during the first half of 2026.

Core’s expansion in Mexico is two-fold.

In Matamoros, the company’s existing facility will be home to Volvo sleeper roofs stemming from a $150 million contract announced last year. The company plans on producing 1,000 roofs a week with production slated to begin in the first quarter of 2027, according to a company presentation for investors. To support its operations, Core is adding two 4,500-ton presses to its Matamoros facility. A tour of the facility will be offered to investors in late September.

Core also opened a new 200,000-square-foot facility in Monterrey with new molding and painting capabilities to consolidate the company’s 55,000-square-foot facility and 30,000-square-foot warehouse.

Of the 11 job postings Core is advertising on its site as of early August, five are for positions in Mexico. Core is hiring a plant director and a product engineer in Matamoros, while in Monterrey it’s hiring two financial analysts and a plant controller. The company’s annual report states that as of late 2025 it had 727 employees based in Mexico.

Core’s expansion comes as it tries to diversify its clientele. 

While the company has its eyes set on communications infrastructure, grid resiliency, and energy transition projects, existing customers include building product and industrial businesses. A majority of product sales, though, come from trucking and powersports industries.

The medium and heavy-duty trucking market accounted for just over 40% of Core’s product sales in 2025, while powersports made up at least a fifth, according to the company’s annual report, but the company has acknowledged that demand in those industries varies by season and is affected by broader economic forces.

Core’s Volvo contract announcement came a year after Volvo Group — assembler of Volvo and Mack-branded trucks — announced that Monterrey would be the site of a new heavy-truck assembly facility.

Other truck giants already in Mexico include Daimler Truck, maker of Freightliner and Western Star branded trucks, PACCAR, maker of Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks, and International. PACCAR and International are currently Core customers.

Core and Volvo’s investments come amid the United States’ 25% tariff on imported heavy trucks announced last fall, although certain trucks may only have tariffs applied on non-U.S. content under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. 

Core noted to investors and analysts on Tuesday that it would keep an eye out on discussions surrounding the USMCA, which the U.S. declined to renew in its current form last month but remains in effect while negotiations continue.