Sharp Will Build Assembly Plant in Rosarito Beach

SAN DIEGO —  In a move that would create more than 1,000 jobs in Baja California over the next two years, Sharp Electronics Corp. of Japan said Monday that it will build a mammoth manufacturing facility in the once-sleepy resort town of Rosarito Beach, Mexico.

A spokeswoman at Sharp’s U.S. headquarters in Mahwah, N.J., said the facility’s initial phase will cost $27 million, involve almost half a million square feet of plant space and be used for assembly of 1 million televisions and 1.5 million vacuum cleaners a year.

The Japanese consumer electronics and appliance maker is expected to move other divisions to the site as well in coming years, said Jorge Gallego, economic development secretary of Baja California state.

Sharp becomes one of the last major Asian manufacturers of televisions to head to Mexico. Among others, Sony Corp., Sanyo Electric Co., Samsung Group and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., which sells under the Panasonic brand name, have all relocated or expanded there in recent years to take advantage of low-cost labor or comply with provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Those NAFTA provisions state that computer and TV manufacturers must make their products in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade zone to qualify for favorable tariff treatment. “We are very happy that Sharp finally discovered us,” Gallego said.

Sharp, one of the world’s eight largest makers of television sets, now assembles TVs for the U.S. market at a Memphis, Tenn., factory. Once the Baja plant--which is subject to local regulatory approvals--opens next October, Sharp will move assembly of 13-, 19- and 20-inch TVs to that site. Televisions made there will be shipped throughout North and South America.

None of Sharp’s 1,400 employees in Tennessee will be laid off, the spokeswoman said. Instead, they will be reassigned to make other products, including larger-screen and digital televisions, she said.

Rosarito Beach, a popular weekend getaway for Southern Californians, is 20 miles south of the U.S.-Mexico border. Once an adjunct of Tijuana, it has experienced rapid growth in recent years and has been incorporated.

Gallego said that despite the current economic crisis in Asia, at least two major Asia-backed projects are proceeding in Baja. Asahi Glass Co. of Japan, the Samsung conglomerate of South Korea and U.S.-based Corning Inc. are proceeding on a $400-million glass factory in Tijuana, he said. And Nippon Electric Glass executives told Gallego they are moving forward with a $200-million glass factory in Mexicali, Mexico.