Vitro Investing $60M in Auto Glass Technologies

Automotive-glass manufacturer Vitro, the largest glass producer in North America, announces it is investing $60 million in new technologies.

The investments will be focused on North America to reinforce Vitro’s market leadership in automotive glass, supplying both OEMs and aftermarket customers, the Mexican company says in a news release.

Vitro in 2017 acquired OEM supplier Pittsburgh Glass Works for $310 million from LKQ less than a year after the supplier of aftermarket and recycled auto parts bought PGW from PPG Industries and private-equity firm Kohlberg & Co.

Site locations for the new investments, which are to be implemented over the next 18 months, are being finalized.

“The auto industry is being disrupted,” Vitro CEO Adrian Sada says, “and our investments include a series of technologies aimed at aligning our capabilities to become the supplier of choice for advanced auto glass solutions in windshields, coatings, laminated sidelights and sunroofs.”

Adds Vitro President Salvador Minarro: “SUV growth, electrification, augmented reality displays, connectivity, emissions regulation, safety, acoustics, weight reduction, advanced sensors, advanced antennas, energy-efficient technologies and new mobility models are the disruptors that create the need for new solutions in windshields, windows and sunroofs. Vitro is committed to supplying the product solutions needed on the automobiles of the future.”