American Axle and Manufacturing will expand operations in the industrial area of Viladecans, Spain, to support growth with new and existing European customers.
Set to open in January 2019, a new 15,000sqm facility located 20km southwest of Barcelona will produce powertrain components for Europe’s OEMs including Renault, BMW, Daimler, Porsche, Audi and Ford. The new facility consolidates two smaller facilities in nearby Gava and at full capacity will employ 170 associates.
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“As AAM continues to diversify and expand our global customer base and product mix, our new Barcelona facility will be an integral part of our European manufacturing footprint,” said David Dauch, AAM chairman and chief executive officer. “The new facility will help AAM meet customer demand for products that help reduce noise and vibrations from downsized engines.”
AAM Barcelona will produce a complete range of damper products including compression dampers, PV bonded dampers, isolation pulleys, in-mould bonded dampers and damped gears. AAM is a leader in this segment having pioneered the isolation pulley, many types of viscous dampers and damped gears
“The new Barcelona facility will allow AAM to rationalise and improve operations through a lean and efficient layout and production flow and to re-integrate the currently externalised warehouse,” said Greg Deveson, president, AAM Powertrain. “As automakers continue to downsize engines, especially with the increased number of hybrid applications, demand for products like damped gears and isolation pulleys will increase. This new facility will help AAM continue to meet and exceed our customers’ performance and quality expectations.”
Among others, AAM will produce damped gears for Ford, BMW and PSA, PV bonded dampers for Audi, Mercedes and FCA, isolation pulleys for Renault and in-mould bonded dampers for Mercedes, Ford and Porsche.
The Catalonia Trade and Investment agency, the INCASOL and the Consorci urbanístic DeltaBCN supported AAM with this facility expansion.
