Truck and bus maker MAN SE announced plans in mid-April to invest $50 million to build a supplier park in an industrial complex in Resende, Brazil, where MAN builds its vehicles. ArvinMeritor, which supplies axles to MAN, will take advantage of that opportunity with a $10 million investment of its own to put in a plant there.
ArvinMeritor will build an axle facility in the complex, cutting costs now associated with shipping of axles across the country to the MAN facility.
“This initiative is aligned with our objectives to reinforce the ArvinMeritor brand as a strong player in the global commercial vehicle markets,” said Silvio Barros, director of marketing and sales for ArvinMeritor in South America.
Suppliers Suspensys and Maxion are also investing the park. The new park should be functional in 2011. ArvinMeritor expects its plant to be producing axles by 2012. Components will be shipped to the plant from the company’s manufacturing facility in Osasco, Brazil.
Suspensys is a 50/50 joint venture between ArvinMeritor and Brazilian company Randon, which provides expertise and technology in brakes and suspensions.
The MAN facility is a modular consortium where suppliers work inside the main facility to speed the assembly process for building trucks and buses. ArvinMeritor occupies space in the plant now.
In 2009, the Resende factory produced nearly 45,000 trucks and buses. It covers one million square meters and produces 35 different truck models and ten bus models.
