Global auto supplier Marelli said it will open an interior unit manufacturing plant next year in Bowling Green, Ohio.
The company is hiring 75 employees to work in manufacturing, assembly and warehousing operations to support two new bulkhead programs. A bulkhead is a structural component with attachment spots for headlamps, the radiator and the hood latch.
“There are many factors that go into building a business case for a new site,” Chris Bradford, regional head of interiors at Marelli, said in a Wednesday statement. “Our key considerations were affordability, proximity to customers, quality of the local work force and the opportunity to expand.”
The company declined to identify which automakers the plant will supply, but said it expects the operation to make about 760,000 components per year. Plant construction is expected to be completed by early 2021. Bowling Green is about 80 miles south of Detroit on Interstate 75.
Production for the first bulkhead program will begin in May 2022, Marelli spokeswoman Lisa Van Giesen told Automotive News.
“The company continues to quote new customer programs that, if won, would bring additional employment to the area,” the statement said.
Marelli said it decided on Bowling Green because of the “unmatched support” from Northwest Ohio’s Regional Growth Partnership and JobsOhio during the location selection process.
