Germany-based automotive interior and exterior part supplier STS Group AG is investing $39 million to establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility near Wytheville, Va.
The plant will bring 120 new jobs to the area. Construction on the new facility, which will operate as STS Group North America, will begin in the third quarter of this year, Chip Vogel, vice president of operations at the new subsidiary told Plastics News in an email.
STS expects construction to be complete at the end of 2022 and production to begin in the first quarter of 2023, Vogel said.
The facility will supply Volvo Trucks in Pulaski County and other truck and automotive facilities throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern U.S. markets, an April 8 news release said.
“Progress Park in Wythe County is strategically located close to several facilities of our key global customers,” Mathieu Purrey, CEO of STS Group AG said in the release. “We like the pro-business environment we see in the greater Wytheville area and we are confident in our choice. We look forward to contributing to the region’s economy and to the community’s well-being.”
STS, headquartered near Munich, develops and manufactures products for hard trim components for automotive and truck markets. The company operates 12 plants in four countries including Mexico, France, China and Germany.
It has both injection molding and composite molding. STS was created from what had been the truck group within the European company Autoneum, previously called Rieter Group. It grew through the acquisition of commercial truck business groups within Mecaplast and Plastic Omnium Group.
