Denso expands footprint in the US, invests $1 billion in Tennessee unit

Denso, one of the world’s largest automotive technology, systems and components suppliers, is expanding its U.S. footprint with a $1 billion investment in its Maryville, Tennessee facility.

The investment, which will create over 1,000 new production and support jobs, including technicians and engineers, is to make the unit a primary manufacturing centre in North America for electrification and safety systems.

The investment will also expand multiple production lines to produce advanced safety, connectivity, and electrification products for hybrids and EVs.  These new products, according to Denso, will radically improve fuel efficiency and preserve electric power by recovering and recycling energy, and by connecting all systems and products inside the vehicles. The products it is claimed will create the highest efficiency for a whole vehicle by anticipating the road environment via collaboration with information outside the car and using data to enhance performance of electrified products.

"This is an investment in the future of Denso, and also the future of transportation. We are seeing dramatic shifts in the role of transportation in society, and this investment will help position us to meet those changing demands,” said Kenichiro Ito, chairman of Denso's North America Board of Directors and CEO of Denso International America.

The company had announced a $400 million investment in Maryville in 2015, adding 500  jobs and consolidating various warehouse operations into one central location. It also recently invested $75.5 million in its Southfield, Michigan headquarters and Dublin, Ohio facilities.

With its North American headquarters located in Southfield, Michigan, Denso employs more than  23,000 people at 28 consolidated subsidiaries and 4 affiliates across the North American region. Of these, 25 are manufacturing facilities located in the United States, Canada and Mexico. In the United States alone, the company employs more than 17,000 people in Alabama, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2017, Denso’s North American consolidated sales totalled US$9.6 billion.