Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) said today it is investing $100 million to build another battery plant in China. The plant will supply global and local automakers in Asia and is expected to start production in early 2013. During its press conference in Frankfurt at the 64th Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA) Johnson said it plans to produce an annual capacity of 2.4 million batteries by 2015 for local and global automakers.
The U.S. based company, which fired about half of its U.S. automotive plant workers during the Great Recession to cut costs, said it is considering several potential locations for the new plant and expects to make a final decision in the coming months. Johnson reported record profits in Q2 of 2011.
Johnson Controls said it expects to expand its battery manufacturing capacity in China from four million units today to 30 million units by 2015. The company commenced construction of its third Chinese plant, in Chongqing, in January 2011.
“We project that China will continue to be the fastest growing market for automobiles through the end of this decade. At the same time, interest in the environment and more energy efficient vehicles is driving many of our OE customers to add Start-Stop vehicles to their fleets,” said Kim Metcalf-Kupres, vice president strategy, sales and marketing at Johnson Controls Power Solutions.
Johnson Controls predicted that the market for so called Start-Stop vehicles that shut off instead of idling will grow to 35 million globally by 2015. To support this rapid growth, the company is investing $520 million worldwide during the next four years in additional production capacity for Start-Stop batteries: $280 million in Germany, an additional $140 million in the United States, and $100 million dollars in China.
