Faurecia, which is majority-owned by PSA/Peugeot-Citroën, already has 17 plants in the US. It plans to invest $300m in the region in 2006-2009 to boost US sales to $2.5bn by 2009 from $1.5bn. Faurecia is an automotive supplier of seats, cockpits, doors, acoustic modules, front ends and exhausts.

BOEING INVESTS IN INDIA:

Illinois-headquartered Boeing Co has agreed to invest $100m to establish a repair and maintenance facility in India. India’s civil aviation minister Praful Patel added that the aircraft giant will invest an additional $75m in a pilot training facility on the subcontinent.

GRAH AUTOMOTIVE TO BUILD PLANT IN SERBIA:

The Slovenian subsidiary of German auto components manufacturer Schefenacker, Grah Automotive, is to invest €1.5m to build a factory in Batocina, Serbia’s central district of Sumadija, creating 250 jobs by the end of 2007.

FORD TO INVEST $14m IN UK:

US automotive giant Ford has announced it is investing $14m at its Halewood plant in the UK, which will double annual production of the MT82 six-speed, rear-wheel-drive transmission unit by mid-2007. Halewood Transmission is a 50-50 joint venture by Getrag and Ford that was formed in 2001. The plant has a workforce of 730 and an annual production capacity of 500,000 transmission units.

MILEMARKER OPENS IN CHINA:

Florida-based MileMarker International Inc, a speciality vehicle parts supplier, has announced the opening of its first overseas factory in Shenzhen, China. The new facility includes a 278-square-metre ‘clean room’ required for the manufacture of delicate electronics.