7 days ago
Second EV parts plant announced in $300 million investment
Another $48 million investment at Minth in Windsor, and an acceleration of the timeline. CTV Windsor's Robert Lothian explains.
Faced with market uncertainty, two automotive parts companies are moving ahead with a joint venture in Windsor with the belief there will be some relief.
Parts manufacturer Minth Group announced an agreement to venture with AISIN Corporation, a Tier One automotive supplier, on Tuesday morning.
Building on a $300 million manufacturing campus announced in April, Minth said they will be moving forward on phase two immediately.
Through the partnership, the site will lead to aluminum, steel and polymer-based parts for electric vehicle platforms.
A new venture in the electric vehicle sector comes in the midst of uncertainty for the auto sector in Canada.
In the face of lower demand and U.S. tariffs, Scott Turpin, the president and CEO of Aisin World Corp. of America, said they're not concerned.
'We made the decision to move forward regardless of the noise that we're hearing right now in this news cycle,' Turpin told reporters.
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A new venture in the electric vehicle sector comes in the midst of uncertainty for the auto sector in Canada. (Robert Lothian/CTV News Windsor)
Since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump, there's been a shift in green policy stateside. In Canada, there has been a decrease in EV sales, and auto leaders have asked for an electric vehicle mandate to be put on hold.
'We think that that is going to be short-lived, that, you know, the two countries will continue to work towards some neutral agreement,' Turpin noted.
'So, we want to make sure that we're not letting politics drive our business decisions.'
Located at 5000 Cabana Road East, on approximately 54 acres of surplus land at the Windsor International Airport, this will be the second 150,000 sq. ft. facility.
Through the partnership, the site will lead to aluminum, steel and polymer-based parts for electric vehicle platforms.
'Phase two will be tailored for our very important customer,' said William Chin, the Chief Strategy Officer of Minth.
'The equipment going in there will be tailored for the customer, so it will be done in phases when a customer gives us an order for a certain amount of parts.'
Though officials wouldn't directly name the customer, a news release states that Japanese-based AISIN is a major supplier of Toyota.
The only AISIN plant in Canada is ACI, located in Stratford, supplying Toyota plants in Ontario.
'So we are very honoured to have the opportunity to stand on the shoulders of a giant,' Chin said.
Minth's Windsor footprint is expected to include about 1,100 jobs when both facilities are completed. The initial phase is expected to open in Windsor.
By this fall, Chin expects they will have hired about 100 people. Based on plans to phase in the workforce, Chin estimated that the plant will be fully staffed by 2027.
