Lego Commits Over $400 Million to Monterrey Plant Expansion

The Lego Group will invest more than $400 million to expand its manufacturing site in Monterrey, Mexico, adding packing and warehousing capabilities that will deepen the plant's role in supplying customers across the Americas. The toymaker announced the project on Thursday.

The expansion adds over 667,000 square feet of space, including a new packing hall and a fully automated high-bay warehouse capable of storing stacks between 40 feet and more than 150 feet high, according to the company's press release. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2027 and finish by 2029.

The facility currently employs 7,300 workers. The investment will create an additional 1,300 jobs at the site.

The Monterrey factory handles element molding, processing, decoration and the packing of boxes for Lego products. Since it began operations in 2008, the Denmark-based company has steadily enlarged both the plant's manufacturing footprint and its workforce, making it Lego's largest factory worldwide.

The company frames the investment as part of a regional production strategy it has pursued for more than a decade. Lego operates a "flexible and resilient, regionally based global supply chain network that's designed to make products close to Lego's major markets," Nancy Sánchez, general manager of Lego factory Monterrey and senior vice president of Americas manufacturing at the Lego Group, said in an email.

"This approach has been a core part of our strategy for more than 15 years and helps us respond to changes in demand while supporting long-term growth," Sánchez said.

COO Carsten Rasmussen tied the announcement to the plant's standing within the company's network. The latest expansion plans reflect Lego's "long standing commitment to Mexico and the important role the site plays in our global manufacturing network," Rasmussen said in a statement.

"This latest investment positions us for continued long-term growth and will help us meet demand for Lego play experiences for years to come," Rasmussen added.

The expenditure will also create employee "opportunities for technical training, professional development and long-term careers," Sánchez said in the press release. Lego works with technical schools, Mexico's Ministry of Education and industry partners to develop workforce courses that reflect skills the manufacturing sector currently requires, she said in the email.

"Current and future employees will have access to training that helps them operate sophisticated software, strengthen problem-solving and continuous improvement capabilities, develop leadership behaviors and build expertise in a modern manufacturing environment," Sánchez added.

The Monterrey expansion carries Lego's broader sustainability commitments. The company has worked to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, and in 2022 it began phasing out single-use plastic across its packaging in favor of paper-based bags for its toy bricks. That transition remains on track for completion in 2027, according to Sánchez.

Many buildings on the Monterrey site already carry rooftop solar panels, Sánchez said. Other environmental investments at the site include water reuse systems, waste reduction programs and what Sánchez described as "ongoing efforts to achieve zero waste to landfill."

Monterrey was Lego's first North American facility. The company is now building its second, in Chesterfield, Virginia, where it is spending over $1.5 billion on a factory and a regional distribution center — both on track to open in 2027. Until then, Lego is operating a temporary packing facility in Chesterfield.

Once the Monterrey expansion completes in 2029, Lego's American production capacity — and its Mexican workforce of 8,600 — will stand roughly double where the decade began, with Chesterfield coming online two years earlier.