WALLED LAKE, Mich., March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Behr America's new
manufacturing and product development center in Webberville, MI, near Lansing,
has begun production with a first-of-its-kind vehicle part: Behr's new
Visco(R) fan clutch (EV clutch) system which is the first electronically
controlled fan clutch produced in North America.
Behr will exhibit the new Visco(R) fan clutch at the SAE 2001 World
Congress and Exposition in Detroit, March 5-8, booth number 2171.
The 60,000-square-foot Webberville plant houses Behr's assembly
operations, and also includes development, design, engineering and testing
capabilities for fans, clutches and other engine cooling components.
Prototype and pre-production manufacturing began last year.
The Webberville facility is part of a $120-million expansion of Behr's
North American operations, which includes moving its headquarters from
Charleston, SC, to Troy, MI.
Behr America is building an 80,000-square-foot corporate headquarters and
technical center in Troy, which is scheduled for completion late this year.
Plans also are underway to construct a state-of-the-art wind tunnel for
vehicle testing and evaluation purposes.
Hans Lange, Behr America president and Behr Group board member says, "our
increased presence in the Detroit area represents Behr's commitment to be
closer to our growing automotive customer base and support our
'one-face-to-the-customer' philosophy. It assures consistency in all aspects
of Behr quality and services."
"We are making these investments in order to sustain and develop our
business relationships with our Detroit base of customers," says Lange. "We
want to demonstrate we have the technical competence and capacity in place to
support them." He adds that Behr hopes to expand its North American presence
and surpass a 10 percent market share with the American Big Three car
manufacturers by 2005, more than doubling its current stake.
Behr America is part of the $2-billion Behr Group, a leading global
supplier of climate control and engine cooling systems for automotive,
commercial, and off-highway markets. Behr Group, headquartered in Stuttgart,
Germany, has more than 13,000 employees worldwide with manufacturing
facilities in eight countries. Behr America has about 1,100 employees in
Walled Lake and Webberville, MI, Charleston, SC, Canton, SD, and Fort Worth,
TX. The U.S. group is building its new headquarters and a technical center in
Troy, MI.
Behr's automotive customer base includes Audi, BMW, DaimlerChrysler,
General Motors, Jaguar, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Saturn, Volvo and Volkswagen. In
terms of current sales and new contracts, GM, DaimlerChrysler and BMW are
Behr's largest automotive customers in North America. Other customers include
Freightliner, Volvo, Ford, Navistar, John Deere, Cummins and Caterpillar.
Development of its Far East customer base is also progressing.
More Behr information is available online at http://www.behrgroup.com .
SOURCE Behr America, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.behrgroup.com
CONTACT:
Indira Sadikovic of Behr America, Inc.,
248-669-8588, or Indira.Sadikovic@behrgroup.com; or Janet Krol of
AutoCom Associates, 248-647-8621, or jkrol@usautocom.com
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