Indiana Heats Up with $384 Million in New and Expanding Construction Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The automotive industry seems to be bouncing back. Indiana is currently showing an increase in automotive expansions as new and existing automotive manufacturers and suppliers expand existing operations or create new manufacturing plants. Industrial Info is currently tracking 14 projects totaling $384 million for new and existing automotive supplier manufacturing plants in Indiana.

Chrysler LLC (Auburn Hills, Michigan) is under way with a $150 million retool of its existing Kokomo, Indiana, facility to enable the company to accommodate a new, highly fuel-efficient, eight-speed automatic transmission line and increase the existing manufacturing plant capacity to 531,000 transmission units annually. Chrysler announced in December 2012 another expansion of its Kokomo plant, estimated at $212 million, that would install new equipment to further increase transmission production, but specifics have yet to be announced and a final decision has not been made at this time.

Japanese automotive parts supplier Tsuda Industries Company Limited (Kariya, Aichi, Japan) is planning to start construction in a few weeks on a $56.2 million manufacturing plant in Mount Comfort, Indiana. A contractor has just been selected to provide detailed engineering and construction services for the company's first North American manufacturing plant. The new plant will enable the company to supply parts for several Toyota facilities across the country, and it will include locations in Princeton, Indiana, and Georgetown, Kentucky. The company also will supply Honda and Suzuki.

Automotive interior switch and sensor manufacturer Trin Incorporated is currently under way with a $19 million expansion of its Ashely, Indiana, manufacturing plant that will enable the company to upgrade existing manufacturing capabilities.

Overall, Indiana is showing an increase in jobs while manufacturers expand and increase production, which is very positive for the state and the auto industry after overcoming a difficult period and a somewhat shaky fiscal cliff crisis.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, and eight offices outside of North America, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities