Marelli to manufacture e-drives in Cologne, Germany
The automotive supplier Marelli is planning a production facility for electric vehicle drives in Cologne, Germany that will go into operation in the first half of 2021. The company based in Japan has not yet provided technical data on the drives built there.
Marelli will install a production line for electric drives on an area of 18,000 square meters in Cologne-Niehl, Germany with a site that will provide space for a possible future expansion. At the start of production, the company plans to employ around 160 people there and to hire 60 additional workers in the course of the year.
According to Joachim Fetzer, CEO of the electric drive division, the Cologne plant was “chosen for its location in the heart of Europe. The region is developing into a “centre for e-mobility”, which is why qualified employees will also be found locally. “With the new production facility, we are expanding our manufacturing footprint and capacities for this important growth market,” says Fetzer.
The Marelli Group was only created in 2019 from the merger of the Italian supplier Magneti-Marelli (which previously belonged to Fiat-Chrysler) and the Japanese company Calsonic Kansei (with roots at Nissan). Marelli was previously one of the largest suppliers of injection systems for internal combustion engines. Since the merger, the company has been working to expand its range to include electric drives. In addition to drives, the portfolio also includes components such as vehicle electronics and lighting.
“Electric powertrain is a core element of Marelli’s growth strategy. We already have a great deal of experience in the market, having been one of the early suppliers of the KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System), the first hybrid solution in Formula 1, as well as being a pioneer of electric powertrain for Formula E,” says Fetzer. “In the past years, we have been very successful in bringing our technologies for electric mobility to the mass market and with the new facility in Cologne we are in a strong position to continue on that path”.
The company has not yet revealed the details about exactly which drives are to be produced in Cologne or for which customers. The supplier has only published a picture of the hall in which production is to be set up. As the German newspaper, Kölner Stadtanzeiger writes, the hall is to be located on the site of the Ford plants. In the past, Ford also rented a hall that was no longer in use to StreetScooter, which built the Work XL there on the basis of the Ford Transit.
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