Hella Plans $20-Million Assembly Line for Detroit Area
9 August 2000
Hella Plans $20-Million Assembly Line for Detroit Area
FARMINGTON, Mich. - Hella North America plans to invest more than $20-million for a new assembly line to produce electronic throttle-control systems at the company's North America headquarters complex in Farmington, MI.Joseph V. Borruso, Hella's North American president and CEO, said the new line will begin operation next summer and create up to 50 new jobs. The production facility, he added, will occupy an approximately 1,500 square-foot space currently used for storage and warehousing.
"We're making this investment to support a growing demand from major auto manufacturers for electronic, `drive-by-wire' accelerator and braking control systems," Borruso said. "Electronic throttle-control systems produced at the Farmington facility will incorporate new, non-contact position sensors developed and patented by Hella in Europe."
Hella is Europe's leading producer of electronic throttle control systems with a 70 percent market share. Borruso said Hella sales to OEM customers in Europe are expected to grow by 80 percent from more than 2.5 million units in 1999 to 4.0 million units this year.
More than 70 percent of the cars and light trucks produced in North America are equipped with mechanical throttle-control systems which use up to eight feet of cable, according to Joe Miskovich, manager of electro-mechanical engineering at Hella North America.
He predicted that virtually all vehicles built in North America will have electronic accelerator controls within the next 10 years -- a potential market of $3 billion or more.
"Electronic throttle control systems generally are considered to be safer, easier to assemble, more reliable and overall less costly to produce than the mechanical systems they are replacing," Miskovich said. "Electronic throttle systems also will permit automakers to more efficiently manage electronically monitored engine-control systems and onboard diagnostic systems."
Borruso said Hella currently supplies more than a quarter-of-a-million electronic throttle-control systems to OEMs in North America and expects that number to increase to 2.3 million or more within the next four years.
He noted that Hella's patented electronic throttle-control system provides drivers with virtually the same accelerator-pedal "feel" as more conventional mechanical systems.
Hella is a tier one supplier of lighting, electronic equipment, sensors and complete vehicle front-end modules to the auto industry. Hella North America and its parent company, Hella KG Hueck & Company, have 20,000 employees at more than 30 production locations in 16 countries throughout the world. Worldwide consolidated sales for Hella during the company's 1998-99 fiscal year grew by more than 14 percent to more than $2.4 billion.