China Auto Parts seeks pacts with U.S. suppliers
The China Auto Parts & Accessories Corp. (CAPAC) is expanding a suburban Detroit technical center, the first step of its plan to form alliances with U.S. parts suppliers.
The state-owned group of 100 suppliers has spent $10 million on an R&D center that it shares with Tempo International Group Ltd. a Chinese maker of chassis components.
The facility already has 100 engineers, and CAPAC is hiring an additional 100.
"We want to use this as a platform to [work with] all the other R&D centers in Detroit," said CAPAC President Chen Kangren, following a speech to business executives in suburban Detroit.
CAPAC generates $30 billion in global parts sales -- mostly in the aftermarket. The company's annual U.S. sales totals $80 million. Chen said he wants to sell more components in North America, and he also hopes to form partnerships with U.S. suppliers to sell parts in China.
The company is setting up three new industrial parks in China, and Chen says he is holding talks with U.S. companies that might operate there.
Chen said his company is evaluating about ten U.S. companies with whom he could establish "some level of collaboration."
