Brose Canada Inc., London, ON, is now the German automotive parts manufacturer’s leading plant in North America after it unveiled a $20-milion expansion of its facility.
The new plant is now manufacturing part of a seating system that used to be made in Germany by its parent company, Brose Automotive, based in Coburg, Germany.
The plant is expected to make 2.5 million gearboxes (which move the seat forward and backward). Jorge Rodel, plant manager says it will mean the plant will be making more seats for more automakers across North Amercia, he notes in an online June 25, 2010 London Free Pres story.
“This is a very, very important step for us and it is important for London,” Rodel said. “We are concentrating on advanced manufacturing and this makes Brose a lead plant for our seating business in North America.”
Of the $20 million investment, $6.5 million was slated for the new gearbox line and the rest for production of a new unibody seat system. The Ontario government contributed $350,000 toward the landing gearbox line.
The new production system Brose is using is called the kombi line and will supply Subaru, Mercedes, Suzuki, Nissan, Ford and BMW in Canada and the US.
The news of the expansion follows news earlier in the year in which City of London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco announced in her January 2010 State of the City Address that the Ontario government had invested $497,000 in the London Economic Development Corp. to help the region’s manufacturing sector. Part of the funding was used to partner with Brose to ensure a new precision laser cutting system being installed at the time met CSA approved standards.
At that time, DeCicco also announced that Brose was investing $7 million in its London plant, noting that the company sources more than $2.5 million from local suppliers.
Brose set up its first Canadian production facility in London, ON, in December 2005. The facility also produces door systems and closure systems for Ford.
Canadian Metalworking contacted Brose in Germany for additional comments, but media contact Ute Danner said that the company could not comment on the news because of time conflicts due to the summer break at the company.
www.brose.com
