A new company formed via a joint venture between V. Johnson Enterprises and Valeo and based upon the former Automotive Components Holdings (ACH) business recently sold by Ford Motor Co. aims to supply automakers with a variety of climate control products and components.
The new firm, Detroit Thermal Systems LLC (DTS), will be housed in a 365,000-sq.-ft. production facility in Romulus, MI, to build a variety of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems for automakers. V. Johnson Enterprises will hold 51% of DTS, while Valeo will hold the remaining 49%.
The company said it plans to immediately start refurbishing its new factory, with ramp up for production expected to begin during the third quarter of 2013, with ACH’s assets and operations transitioning to the new facility over the next 24 months.
The plant should have the capacity to produce more than two million HVAC systems annually, according to Vincent Johnson, DTS’s chairman & CEO, and based on forecast industry demand, he anticipates employing a workforce of 500 by the end 2014.
DTS will manufacture HVAC units initially just for Ford vehicles aimed at the North American market, with future plans to develop offerings for new customers. The deal also gives DTS access to Valeo’s HVAC, A/C system, and Powertrain Cooling System technology, Johnson said.
