Chinese Auto Supplier Building $45M Plant

KANSAS CITY- In yet another sign that the automotive industry has revived, the Kansas City Area Development Council has announced that Yanfeng USA Automotive Trim Systems has decided to locate a new manufacturing plant in Riverside Horizons, a 260-acre industrial park in suburban Riverside. Bouma Construction of Grand Rapids, Michigan will begin constructing the $45 million, 258,000-square-foot plant this month and finish by early 2014.

“This is just a reflection of how integrated the world economy is today,” says Bob Marcusse, president and CEO of the development council. Yanfeng USA is a subsidiary of Yanfeng Visteon of China, itself a partnership between Michigan-based Visteon and other Chinese companies. Historically, Visteon was a supplier to the Ford Motor Company, but it was spun off, later declared bankruptcy, and then restructured. This new plant will manufacture interior trim components for General Motors‘ assembly plants in Kansas City, Kansas, and Wentzville, Missouri.