Leaders at auto parts manufacturer Faurecia Interior have sparked excitement in the Missouri manufacturing industry by announcing plans to build a new interior production plant in Blue Springs, a suburb outside Kansas City. Headquartered in Nanterre, France, Faurecia executives have built their company’s global reputation and business model on new technologies, particularly clean mobility, automotive seating, and interior systems. But what could this French company’s new U.S. plant mean for the Kansas City region and American manufacturing?
Faurecia
Faurecia was founded in 1997 when Peugeot merged with Bertrand Faure. While Faurecia remains a Peugeot subsidiary, it is independently operated. Faurecia executives’ attention to technological advancements and innovation combined with its manufacturers’ ability to focus on their scope of work has set the company apart from its competitors and positioned Faurecia as a global leader in emissions control technology and seat manufacturing. In 2016, Faurecia sold most of its auto exterior elements, allowing company leaders to further sharpen their focuses on interior technologies. In 2017, Faurecia became a Parrot Automotive stakeholder, signaling future possible expansions into automobile connectivity and infotainment options.
Auto parts manufacturing in Blue Springs
With the Blue Springs expansion, Faurecia is staking another claim in an area of the U.S. where other major automotive manufacturing plants are located, the Kansas City region, which is now the “second most important automotive center in the U.S.” The Blue Springs plant will mean a 250,000-square-foot $60 million facility for Faurecia, the sixth-largest auto parts manufacturer globally and bring approximately 300 new jobs to the Kansas City area. Chosen for its close location to customers and the region’s skilled workforce, Faurecia plant personnel will focus on creating doors and instrument panels. They will begin operations later in 2018 and plan to be fully operational by 2020.
The move strengthens Faurecia’s already-strong investment in North American manufacturing and adds to the company’s 47 existing manufacturing plants in North America which employ 20,000. The employees who sign on at the Blue Springs plant will also join the 600 Faurecia already employs in Missouri at its clean mobility plant in Dexter and seating facility in Wentzville, according to the KMBZ article.
The auto parts manufacturing industry is growing globally and is expected to reach $466 billion by 2025. While Faurecia is also expanding in Asia, the choice to expand within the United States is an important one that could help other international manufacturers notice the benefits of manufacturing in the U.S.