Gov. Kay Ivey announced today that Japan-based DaikyoNishikawa US plans to invest $110 million to open an auto parts manufacturing facility in Huntsville to serve the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA assembly plant now under construction.
The company, called DNUS for short, will create approximately 380 jobs at the new Alabama facility, which will produce plastic automotive parts.
“Over decades, Alabama has built strong relationships with many leading Japanese businesses, and I know that we will forge a productive, long-lasting partnership with DaikyoNishikawa,” Ivey said.
“We’re pleased that this world-class automotive supplier has selected our state for the site of its first U.S. manufacturing facility and look forward to seeing it put down roots in Sweet Home Alabama, where so many of our Japanese partners have found success.”
DNUS is the first on-site partner announced for Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA (MTMUS), a $1.6 billion joint-venture assembly plant being built on a 2,500-acre site in the Limestone County portion of Huntsville.Construction on the DNUS facility is expected to begin this summer.
Once the plant begins operations to coincide with the start of MTMUS vehicle production in 2021, DNUS’s Alabama workforce will produce large resin parts such as bumpers and instrument panels.
“DaikyoNishikawa is a welcome addition to Alabama’s rapidly growing network of high-caliber international auto suppliers,” said Greg Canfield, secretary of the Alabama Department of Commerce.
“With this significant investment, the company is signaling its strong confidence in Alabama workers and the state’s business environment. I know we can build a great future together.”
New auto hub
DNUS’s project begins just months after MTMUS launched construction on its Alabama facility, which will employ up to 4,000 workers at full production. From 2021, MTMUS will produce up to 300,000 vehicles annually, split evenly between Mazda and Toyota.
The Mazda-Toyota partnership announced Alabama for its project in 2018.
DaikyoNishikawa Corp., a publicly traded company in Japan, first announced the Alabama project today after the markets closed in Tokyo. DNUS has already established a temporary office in Huntsville and a human resources director to prepare for hiring.
“Huntsville welcomes DaikyoNishikawa to our growing regional network of automotive suppliers,” Mayor Tommy Battle said. “They’re joining an outstanding partnership with Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA, and we’re collectively witnessing the birth of a major automotive hub for the U.S. and the world.”
Based in Hiroshima, DaikyoNishikawa operates about a dozen R&D centers and manufacturing plants in Japan, as well as production sites in Mexico, Thailand, Indonesia and China. It employs more than 5,000 people across these sites.
The company, whose roots stretch to the early 1950s, supplies plastic parts to many of the major automakers based in Japan, including Mazda and Toyota.
This story originally appeared on the Alabama Department of Commerce’s Made in Alabama website.
