Yesterday morning, Italian brake supplier Brembo formally announced the $115 million expansion of its Homer, Michigan-based manufacturing plant. Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne also attended the grand opening of the facility, giving a very interesting speech during the press conference.
Beginning by saying he attended the event "for a bunch of reasons", Marchionne swiftly headed to explain the first and most important one. Specifically, the Italian declared that "anyone operating in the auto sector today is faced with a new reality of an incredibly flat world, a flat world you can't hope to be secure in your home market unless you're also able to compete in others."
The numero uno's declaration makes reference to the 5-year anniversary of the Chrysler Group's $12,5 billion government bailout from 2009. Marchionne continues with: "Brembo is one of the leading examples, if not the leading example of Italian excellence that understood the importance of adopting the spirit of becoming international and put it in practice way before others did."
Truth be told, Brembo has been working with Fiat and Fiat-owned auto brands for 40 years now, among other world-class automakers. On this basis, the FCA CEO continues by saying that "Many believe that the faith of a supplier, large or small, depends primarily on the financial and strategic choices made by its customers. FCA's recent strategic focus on Alfa Romeo and Maserati will strengthen the relationship between the manufacturer and Brembo even further."
Another piece of important info sourced by the Fiat-Chrylser Automobiles' CEO is that the group has hired circa 14,000 people in the state of Michigan since 2009 and committed more than $1.7 billion in research and development of new technologies and products. On an ending note, Marchionne concluded by saying "Chrysler could rally to be a great car company once again and together with Fiat become the seventh largest car maker in the world."
Following the $115 million expansion, Brembo's facility in Homer, Michigan now features a manufacturing area of approximately 440,000 square feet and employs over 450 people. With 47 processing lines and 12 painting lines, the plant is expected to produce 12.5 million discs and 400,000 calipers and modules in 2014.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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