Inalfa Roof Systems USA recently opened a new assembly plant in Grand Blanc, Michigan, where 45 staff make sunroofs for the new Chrysler 300C sedan and Dodge Magnum, assembly of which began in Brampton, Canada, in January.
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Inalfa expects to supply 7,000 tilt/slide sunroofs per month for those two models and will soon start making sunroof systems for the Dodge Ram Pickup, the Jeep Grand Cherokee and the General Motors GMT 800 pickup line (Chevrolet Silverado, GMC Sierra) will follow. Output will increase by another 35,000 systems per month as a result, and 80 staff will be employed.
Plant manager Ron Rouse said: “With this launch we will be supplying three of the five large pickups in North America (GM, Dodge, Nissan Titan). Considering this was a market that last year had no OE sunroofs available for the three million full size pickups produced annually, this is a big step forward”.
The new facility is 28 miles from Inalfa US headquarters in Auburn Hills and is the fourth Inalfa US assembly plant and the second plant Inalfa Roof Systems has opened during the last six months. In August 2003, production of the innovative rear sliding roof system for the GMC Envoy XUV began in a new building in Oklahoma City.
Inalfa Roof Systems, one of the largest roof systems suppliers, develops and manufactures equipment for cars and trucks for most OE manufacturers. The company has 12 plants around the world, a staff of about 1,500 people and expects to turn over €360 million in 2004.
Technical centres in Venray (The Netherlands) and Auburn Hills develop ever larger and more complex roof systems. Recent innovative products are the rear sliding roof system of the GMC Envoy, the multifunctional roof system for the Citroën C3 Pluriel and the BMW X3’s twin panel panorama roof.
