[Image courtesy of www.gkn.com]
CBI member GKN Driveline has continued to expand its manufacturing footprint in China, highlighted by the recent opening of its seventh production facility in the country.
The new 13,900 square metre plant in Changchun will have the capacity to build one million sideshafts per year, and a new 10,000 square metre expansion of the plant will increase its capacity to four million sideshafts within the next five years.
Forecasting vehicle production in China to reach 15 million units by 2014, GKN Driveline continues to regard China as a key growth market. The company's production capacity for constant velocity joint (CVJ) systems and all-wheel-drive (AWD) systems in China is expected to grow by 50% in the next three years.
GKN is also investing RMB 94 million to expand its research and development centre in Shanghai, which will lead to the development of prototyping facilities, as well as a materials and metrology capability, to allow products to be developed for the Chinese market.
Marc Vuarchex, Managing Director of GKN Driveline Asia Pacific, said, "China is a key market for our overall growth strategy. With our CVJ and AWD systems production along with our industry-leading electric-vehicle technology and plans to produce new, low-cost systems for China's small-car market, we will increase our number of employees by over 30% in China over the next four years."
Please click here to read the full press release by GKN.
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