Rehau realigns businesses

LEESBURG, Va. (Jan. 29)—Rehau Inc. has merged its expanding Mexican unit with its North American group to enhance Rehau's manufacturing capabilities, product base, administrative efficiencies and economies of scale, a spokeswoman said. Rehau Mexico previously was aligned with and managed by the company's regional head office in Germany. The increasing relevance of the North American Free Trade Agreement to the economies of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, along with Mexico's geographic proximity to the U.S., were the key motivators in initiating the realignment, she said. Rehau North America will now have more production sites available to serve the automotive, industrial and construction business sectors, with seven manufacturing facilities, 1,700 workers and 17 sales offices now part of the group. The Leesburg-headquartered global polymer processing company develops and makes a variety of goods, a number of them elastomer-based or plastic.