BorgWarner has opened a new operation in Ningbo, China assembling turbochargers and transmission solenoids.
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The facility is the first of several operations planned for a campus that comprises BorgWarner Automotive Components (Ningbo), the company’s wholly foreign-owned enterprise in the Ningbo Yinzhou industrial zone.
A new office building there houses employees of BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems, BorgWarner Morse TEC and BorgWarner Transmission Systems, as well as a ‘shared services’ group of finance, information technology and human resources professionals who will support all the component maker’s business units in China.
“This new facility marks another milestone in the advancement of our growth strategy for Asia,” said chairman and CEO Tim Manganello. “More countries are adopting European emissions standards for fuel economy and air quality, and they need advanced powertrain technologies in order to meet them.
“We expect a five-fold increase in our sales in China alone over the next five years [and] are taking steps to ensure that we are well-positioned to take full advantage of this growth.”
In addition to this enterprise, BorgWarner operates three joint ventures in China.
The first was formed in 1993 to supply transmission products to Beijing Jeep. That business was restructured in 2000 to focus on four-wheel drive/all-wheel drive products.
A second joint venture, also in Ningbo, was formed in 1998 for the production of thermal products. The company is also a 50%-owner of transmission products-maker NSK-Warner, which also opened a new plant in Shanghai this month.
BorgWarner opened a corporate office in Shanghai in November 2004.
Customers who will be served by the new Ningbo operation include China National Heavy Duty Truck (Sino Truck), VW/Audi, FAW, and Yulin Diesel. Eventually, it is expected that most Chinese OEMs and engine makers will be supplied from this plant with turbochargers, emissions systems, timing chain systems and transmission controls.
In late 2005, BorgWarner announced $1.6 billion in expected new business between 2006-8, 15% of which is expected in Asia.
About 18% of BorgWarner’s 2005 global sales, including unconsolidated joint ventures, were in Asia.
