TRW bets big on China, announces plans for three new plants

TRW Automotive Holdings has announced plans to open three new plants in China this year and next. Two of the facilities are located on the same campus in Zhanghjiagang in the province of Jiangsu, one dedicated to braking which is due to start operations at the end of Q2, 2015, and the other to occupant safety systems (OSS) with a planned start of production in November this year. The third is located in Xian and is also an OSS plant expected to be operational by the third quarter of 2016.

Mark Stewart, vice-president, Asia Pacific, TRW, said: "The opening of these new facilities demonstrates our continued investment in China and our commitment to supporting the rapid growth of the automotive market here. Our new facilities will support our customers – both domestic and global – with a number of upcoming launches."

TRW's braking plant, which covers an area of 23,000 square metres, will manufacture and assemble technologies including electric park brake (EPB), integrated park brake and front calipers, as well as housing machining, carrier machining and actuation machining and assembly. By the end of 2016, it is planned that over 750 people will be employed at the plant.

The OSS plant in Zhanghjiagang, spread across 16,000 square metres, will assemble driver, passenger, side and curtain airbags as well as seat belt technologies including TRW's FS1 and SPR4 retractors, buckle head and hood lifters. TRW expects that around 500 people will be employed at the facility by the end of 2016.

Finally, TRW will localize inflator production at its OSS facility in Xian which is planned to start operations in July 2016.

"With our new facilities, we will have a total of 25 operations in China and in excess of 10,000 employees since we began operations over 20 years ago. This includes the recent opening of the company's largest research and development center in the world which is located in Anting.

"With leading positions across each of our product lines and a strong footprint in China, TRW is ideally positioned to help vehicle manufacturers in China meet the growing safety and environmental requirements," concluded Stewart.