SOUTHFIELD, MICH. (Oct. 15, 10:50 a.m. ET) — Faurecia North America Inc. announced Oct. 11 the completion of its new customer center in Southfield.
The 50,000-square-foot office will house 200 employees, including 80 new hires by the Auburn Hills, Mich.-based seating, emissions-controls and interiors supplier.
The center is dedicated to engineering, product development, program management, sales and marketing that supports new Ford Motor Co. business. In May, Faurecia acquired a $1.1 billion book of business from Ford’s Automotive Components Holdings LLC plant in Saline, Mich.
Faurecia, the North American subsidiary of Nanterre, France-based supplier Faurecia SA, leased a portion of the 1.6 million-square-foot former Visteon Corp. plant. The factory will supply cockpits, instrument and door panels and center consoles to 12 Ford programs including the F-150 pickup, Expedition, Explorer, Focus, Mustang, Taurus and Lincoln Navigator and MKS.
The deal also resulted in a joint venture — Detroit Manufacturing Systems LLC — between Faurecia and the Wayne, Mich.-based Rush Group, owned by Andra Rush.
The Southfield customer center is one of eight new locations in North America for Faurecia. Others include a new injection molding plant in Fraser to supply interiors products for General Motors Co.’s Cadillac ATS and Ford’s Focus.
Faurecia North America generated sales of $4.8 billion in 2011 and employs 2,250 in southeast Michigan.
