Lear to Construct New Manufacturing Plant in Michigan

Noria news wires
Tags: manufacturing

Lear Corp. recently announced plans to construct a new world-class automotive seat manufacturing plant in Flint, Michigan. The new facility will provide seats on a just-in-time basis for future vehicle production at the General Motors (GM) Flint assembly plant.

"We appreciate the support of the state of Michigan and the city of Flint which is allowing Lear to increase manufacturing jobs in America," said Ray Scott, Lear executive vice president and president of seating operations. "This expansion of capacity reflects the positive outlook we have for our business, as well as the favorable economic climate in Michigan, and will contribute to the revitalization of Flint."

GM has found that suppliers of large components locating near assembly plants results in significant savings from reduced transportation costs, higher quality, better communications and continuous improvement activities.

"Since 2009, GM has invested more than $2.8 billion in Flint, and we're proud to see suppliers like Lear also commit to business in Flint," said Tom McMillen, executive director of interior and safety for General Motors. "Lear has been a trusted partner of GM throughout its 100 years of business and earned GM's coveted Supplier of the Year designation 16 times. We look forward to continuing this relationship in our next-generation vehicles produced in Flint."

Lear will begin construction of the state-of-the-art 160,000-square-foot seat manufacturing facility this fall, with completion scheduled for early 2018. The new facility is expected to provide jobs for approximately 600 workers once the plant reaches full employment. Workers will be represented by the United Automobile Workers (UAW) union.

For more information, visit www.lear.com.