Lear plans $80M auto electronics plant in Michigan

Lear Corp. will open an $80 million plant and create hundreds of jobs in Michigan after winning a program with General Motors Co. that marks its largest electric vehicle deal and investment to date, the supplier said Oct. 27.

The Southfield, Mich.-based company struck a deal with the automaker to exclusively supply the battery disconnect unit on all full-size SUVs and trucks built on GM’s Ultium EV platform through 2030, according to a news release.

Lear said it is “working with state and local officials on a plan” to open the plant. The specific location was not disclosed, nor has the amount of potential incentives being sought for the project.

While Lear is more known as an auto seating supplier, more than $4 billion of its $19 billion in annual sales comes from connectors, wiring harnesses and other elements of its E-Systems division. In 2021, it acquired injection molder M and N Plastics Inc., with molding facilities in Sterling Heights, Mich., and El Paso, Texas, to produce complex parts for electrical distribution, including high-voltage wire harnesses and power electronics.

CEO and President Ray Scott alluded to the plan in an interview with Crain’s Detroit Business earlier this month when he said that a push to localize supply chain created a need for an E-Systems plant in Michigan. Last month, it launched a just-in-time seating plant in Detroit on the former Cadillac Stamping site, which will supply GM's Factory Zero on the Detroit-Hamtramck border.

“Lear is developing innovative technologies that are driving the widespread adoption of electric vehicles,” Scott said in the release. “This additional new business with GM was made possible by Lear's recognized value proposition in electrification that combines flexible manufacturing operations and advanced Industry 4.0 automation technologies with our vertically integrated capabilities.”

Battery disconnect units are the interface between an EV’s battery pack and electrical system. Suppliers are locked in a fierce competition to win contracts for content in electric cars, which for now appear to be the future of the industry and contain a fraction of the parts in a gas-powered car.

“It is important to make this investment in our backyard,” Scott said. “This facility will provide hundreds of highly skilled jobs to the state and will be our largest investment in an electrification-focused production site to date.”