After running an aluminium castings plant in the east China city of Suzhou for four years, Georg Fischer Automotive AG last week opened its second plant in China, this time an iron foundry in neighbouring Kunshan city. 

 

With a total investment of 320 million yuan ($46.9 million), the iron foundry has an annual smelting capacity of 35,000 tons.

 

Its products include steering knuckles, wheel mounts, control arms and crankshafts for passenger vehicles; and wheel hubs, small axles and brake callipers for commercial vehicles.

 

Located in the Economic & Technical Development Zone of Kunshan, the plant has already received a large amount of orders from its customers a short time after starting operation.

 

Customers of the Kunshan plant are mainly the China joint ventures of international automakers. According to Zhang Mujia, who is general manager of both the Suzhou and Kunshan plants, they include Shanghai General Motors Co., FAW-Volkswagen Automotive, Shanghai Volkswagen Automotive, BMW Brilliance Automotive Co.  

 

The plant also supplies GM Daewoo Auto and Technology in Korea.

 

Meanwhile, Georg Fischer Automotive's Suzhou plant supplies mainly aluminium engine blocks to Chery Automobile Co., Jianghuai Automobile Co., Great Wall Motors Co. and Dongfeng Peugeot Citron Automobile Co.

 

"We are fully booked," Zhang Mujia told Automotive News China. "We are in China and the global economic recession has had no impact on our operations," he adds.

 

Covering a floor area of 56,000 squire meters, the Kunshan iron foundry has a total of 140,000 square metres of land earmarked for future expansion.

 

Says Zhang: "That allows us to expand our capacity by five times if necessary."