ArvinMeritor eyes $1 billion in Asia Pacific sales

SHANGHAI -- To generate $1 billion (7 billion yuan) in sales from the Asia-Pacific region in the next three to five years, ArvinMeritor Inc. is aggressively expanding in China.

In 2007 the company had sales of $570 million (3.98 billion yuan) in the Asia-Pacific region. China accounted for 43 percent. 

A new sunroof plant together with a new technical center will open this month in Shanghai's Waigaoqiao district. The company declined to reveal investment figures.

The technical center is "a complete design and development test center for China particularly and other regions in Asia," said Frank Pierce, vice president for Light Vehicle Systems-China, at the Beijing auto show.

The tech center will reduce design and validation time by using local engineering and product support staff, Asia-Pacific President Rakesh Sachdev said in a prepared statement.

This includes developing parts specifically for the region, such as door latches, says Pierce. Asian door latches are typically small and light for small Asian cars.

The wholly owned sunroof plant will have the capacity to produce 600,000 sunroofs annually. Production is expected to begin in October 2008. The plant will supply multiple global automakers, says the company.

ArvinMeritor will begin supplying 10 million shock and strut modules to Chery Automobile Co. for several new and existing Chery platforms in early 2009. The parts will be made at ArvinMeritor Chassis (Wuhu) Co., a joint venture of ArvinMeritor and Chery. Production will start in September 2008, with initial deliveries expected to be made in early 2009.

The plant's capacity will be over a million shocks per year. Capacity will be added as orders grow, says Sachdev.

"We'll supply Chery first, then sell our capacity to other car companies," he adds.

ArvinMeritor has also won a contract to supply more than 2 million window regulator motors to Hyundai Motor Co. for the locally produced Elantra sedan. The motors will be supplied from a plant based in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, from mid-2008 through mid-2012.