Cosworth has revealed plans to open a new £20.5 million manufacturing plant in Detroit, Michigan, where V8 engines for an unconfirmed pool of customers will be built.
The new site would join Cosworth’s already established plants in Indianapolis, Mooresville and North Carolina as its fourth US location and is said to have been chosen because of its convenient location in relation to Cosworth’s biggest clients.
Speaking to a Detroit business paper, Cosworth’s CEO Hal Reisiger confirmed it was the state’s “proximity to the customer base” that made Michigan a priority over its contender, Indiana, where Cosworth’s electronics factory is based.
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The plant will first be used to make V8 engines, but more units are planned to be produced in the near future.
Cosworth says its Detroit plant will refer to the UK-based, ‘one-stop-shop’ model to provide the US market with “powertrain design, development and niche-volume manufacturing from a single facility”.
The project has been approved by the Michigan Strategic Fund, and close to £1.5m worth of funding will be provided by Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation. In total the plant will cost about $30m (£20.5m) to build and will create at least 160 jobs for the local area.
Production will start in August 2018. Cosworth says it will reveal more about how this plant will affect its supply later this year.
Olivia Frankel
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