American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings Inc. plans to establish a manufacturing plant near Shanghai, China. Groundbreaking will take place in the spring and some production will be underway by late this year.
No details of the project cost or production systems were reported, though AAM indicated it would be manufacturing "highly engineered driveline systems."
The Detroit company has acquired land-use rights to site of approximately 30 acres, and will own the 175,000-ft2 plant outright. It appointed William A. Smith as its launch manager to oversee construction, build the organization, and be responsible for the future operation of the facility.
According to American Axle chairman Richard E. Dauch, "China and the continent of Asia represent a rapidly growing market with significant opportunities for AAM's state-of-the-art high-technology products. We are expanding in Asia to provide products to our customers in that region, while at the same time continuing to profitably grow our North American and European market share."