Global automotive supplier DENSO announced it will open a shipping plant warehouse in Montgomery. The company’s first Alabama facility will employ at least 45 workers and represents a $2.2 million investment.
DENSO supplies all the world’s major carmakers with advanced technology, systems and components in the areas of thermal, powertrain control, electronics and information and safety. The Montgomery location will act as a distribution hub for heating ventilation air conditioning (HVAC) units and other parts for the company’s North American customers.
“First, we’d like to thank our North American customers because when they grow and expand, it allows DENSO to grow and expand. It’s always been DENSO’s core operating philosophy to be close to the regions in which we operate,” said Hikaru “Howard” Sugi, president and CEO of DENSO International America. “We’re proud to extend our network and welcome Montgomery into the DENSO family.”
The Montgomery facility is scheduled to begin operations in April 2014.
“We’re excited to welcome DENSO to Alabama and are honored they selected Montgomery as their home,” said Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board Horace Horn Jr. “Once again, a global organization has chosen to invest in our community because our city, county, state and chamber leadership have partnered to make the River Region valued as an excellent place to do business.”
More Auto Growth for Montgomery
The DENSO facility will be located on Smothers Road in Montgomery at an existing 103,000-square-foot warehouse that the company will lease for its three-shift operation.
“It’s another great day for the city of Montgomery as we begin our new venture with DENSO,” Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said. “This is one more example of a world-class company deciding to establish roots in Montgomery, and we look forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship.”
DENSO joins Montgomery’s growing list of new and expanding industries that year to date have created more than 900 new jobs and totaled nearly $235 million in capital investments. One of those projects is from auto supplier DAS North America, which is creating 300 new jobs as it expands in the city.
DENSO is headquartered in Kariya, Aichi prefecture, Japan. Worldwide the company has more than 200 subsidiaries and affiliates in 36 countries and regions (including Japan) and employs approximately 130,000 people. In the U.S. alone, DENSO employs more than 10,000 people in California, Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Iowa, Ohio and Arkansas. DENSO’s North American consolidated sales totaled $6.8 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013.
The Montgomery project is part of DENSO’s plans to invest nearly $1 billion to expand in North America to strengthen its product development and manufacturing capabilities across the region.
“We are grateful to the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce, the City of Montgomery Industrial Development Board, the Montgomery County Commission and all the city and state officials who have helped pave the way for this new facility,” said Mike Bowman, DENSO’s director of warehousing operations.