ARC Qinghua Xi’an Automotive Announces an Expansion of Its Manufacturing Operation in Xi’an, China

BRIDGEPORT, Conn.--ARC Qinghua (Xi’an) Automotive Co. Ltd. today announced a facility expansion of the manufacturing operations in Xi’an, China.

“We are pleased to announce an expansion of the ARC Qinghua (Xi’an) Automotive Co. Ltd. operation that will add capacity as well as several new models to our current production,” said Ali El-Haj, President, ARC Automotive, Inc. “The Xi’an expansion will offer our customers – the producers of passive safety restraint systems and automotive original equipment manufacturers around the globe – a wider product selection, increased local services, and even faster delivery times.”

ARC Qinghua (Xi’an) Automotive Co. Ltd., a joint venture business enterprise, was formed in 2004 by ARC Automotive Inc., which owns 60 percent of the operation, and Xi’an North Qinghua Mechanical and Electrical Co. Ltd., which owns 40 percent.

The operation produces airbag inflators, which are an essential component of the vehicle passive safety restraint systems used worldwide.

In 2006, when the facility began production, annual production was two million units. Since then annual production expanded to five million inflators. The current expansion will add capacity for an additional five million inflators to be produced at the operation annually, bringing total annual production to 10 million units.

“The expansion includes additional production of the new and very popular PH7 passenger disk style and DH7 driver inflators,” El-Haj said.

The addition expands the operation from 5,500 to 15,000 square meters. “In addition to the PH7 and DH7 models, the expansion provides the opportunity for us to install capacity for our recently announced ECO-SAFE technology inflator,” El-Haj said.

ARC Automotive Inc. has additional manufacturing operations in Knoxville, Tenn., and in Reynosa, Mexico.

The company is a supplier to the world’s developers of passive safety restraint systems and works directly with automotive original equipment manufacturers on safety restraint system design. In the early 1970s ARC Automotive Inc., a subsidiary of Atlantic Research Corporation, pioneered the hybrid inflators used in today’s vehicle airbag systems.

More information is at www.arcautomotive.com.

ARC Automotive Inc., a leader in inflators and propellants for the automotive industry, is a global supplier to the manufacturers of vehicle airbag safety systems. Founded more than 50 years ago, ARC Automotive has evolved over the years to utilize the same proven technologies found in propellant military systems. ARC Automotive has manufacturing operations in the United States, Mexico and China, operating with TS 16949, A2LA-ISO / IEC 1725 and ISO 14001 qualifications. ARC Automotive is a division of Sequa Corporation. More information is at www.arcautomotive.com.

Sequa Corporation is a diversified industrial company with operations in the aerospace, metal coatings and automotive industries. Sequa is a Carlyle Group company. For additional information, visit www.sequa.com.