French autoparts manufacturer plans $225M plant in McAllen, to hire 500 workers

A French auto parts manufacturer plans to invest $225 million in a new McAllen plant and hire 500 workers to operate it, officials announced Tuesday. 

The company, Valeo, is headquartered in Paris and has an extensive operation across North America. It maintains a regional headquarters in Troy, Michigan, and manufactures vehicle components ranging from electrical systems to hybrid and driver-assistance technologies.

Valeo’s new McAllen manufacturing operation is designed to support vehicles that increasingly rely on software. The company expects to produce General Motors’ central compute unit, a liquid-cooled system powered by next-generation processors, in McAllen. Those units need to be able to process massive amounts of data collected by sensors, cameras, and the automotive system to operate the vehicle. 

“We’re proud to contribute technologies that enable the next generation of software-defined vehicles with this significant investment in the region and the future of automotive technology,” Valeo North America President Jeffrey Shay said in a news release. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to grow our business with GM in the state of Texas.”

Construction for the 337,000-square-foot facility — just north of Military Highway, along South Ware Road and Idela Avenue — began in late February and is expected to wrap up in January 2027. 

Plans for its $19 million industrial expansion, including a 226,007-square-foot shell warehouse for manufacturing use by 140 Ware Road LLC, controlled by Joaquin Spamer of CIL Group, were filed with state regulators in February. 

Valeo employs 13,000 workers across plants in various Mexican cities, including Querétaro, Ciudad Juárez, Toluca, and Río Bravo, which sits directly across the Rio Grande from Donna.

In 1982, the auto parts maker opened its Valeo Sistemas Electronicos maquiladora in Rio Bravo, and in 2020, it expanded the plant by more than 250,000 square feet and added 624 jobs, bringing total employment there to roughly 2,000 workers. 

At the time, the facility, which manufactures advanced automotive electronics such as cameras and driver-assistance systems, was described as one of Valeo’s largest and fastest-growing operations in Mexico.

In 2024, the company also opened a new technical center in Querétaro and hired hundreds of workers there. 

Last year, Valeo sought to mitigate the impact of tariffs on its products because it has extensive operations in China, a country that faced tariffs of up to 145% under the Trump administration. 

“A software-defined vehicle architecture is a key enabler to dramatically improve the customer experience through faster connectivity, richer entertainment options, and more frequent updates,” said Kristin Toth, Purchasing Executive Director, Electrical Systems, Software and Connectivity at General Motors. “Projects such as Valeo’s plant in Texas will play a crucial role as we bring our next-generation electrical architecture to market.”