Faurecia North America Inc. on Thursday announced the completion of its new customer center at the Travelers Tower 1 building in Southfield.
The 50,000-square-foot office on the tower’s 17th and 18th floors will house 200 employees, including 80 new hires by the Auburn Hills-based seating, emission controls and interiors supplier.
The center is dedicated to engineering, product development, program management, sales and marketing that supports new Ford Motor Co. business. In May, Faurecia acquired a $1.1 billion book of business from Ford’s’s Automotive Components Holdings LLC plant in Saline.
Faurecia, the North American subsidiary of French supplier Faurecia SA, leased a portion of the 1.6 million-square-foot former Visteon Corp. plant. The factory will supply cockpits, instrument and door panels and center consoles to 12 Ford programs including the F-150 pickup, Expedition, Explorer, Focus, Mustang, Taurus and Lincoln Navigator and MKS.
The deal also resulted in a joint venture — Detroit Manufacturing Systems LLC — between Faurecia and the Wayne-based Rush Group, owned by Andra Rush.
The Southfield customer center is one of eight new locations in North America for Faurecia. Others include a new injection-molding plant in Fraser to supply interiors products for General Motors Co.’s Cadillac ATS and Ford’s Focus.
Faurecia North America generated revenue of $4.8 billion in 2011 and employs 2,250 in Southeast Michigan.
Dustin Walsh, Crain’s Detroit.
