Auto supplier Continental said it plans to start construction this year on a new plant in New Braunfels, Texas, that will manufacture products for advanced driver-assistance systems.
The German company said on Thursday it will invest $110 million in the new 215,000-square-foot facility over the next three years.
The plant will produce radar systems and will add more than 130 new jobs to the region, according to a press release.
“Advanced driver-assistance systems save lives,” Frank Jourdan, Continental’s board member for autonomous mobility and safety, said in a statement. “Continental is one of the world’s market leaders in this area. We are benefiting from steadily increasing fitment rates in new vehicles.”
“Over the next five years, we are planning further investments in the high-triple-digit million euro range in the areas of assisted and automated driving,” Jourdan said. “The capacity expansion in New Braunfels is part of our growth strategy.”
“Customer proximity in the individual regions is of paramount importance to us,” Karl Haupt, head of Continental’s ADAS business arm, said in the release. “The new plant in New Braunfels will provide us with a state-of-the-art production facility for our high-tech products.”
Continental expects to break ground on the new plant in mid-2020 and will begin production in 2021.
Its existing plant in Seguin, Texas, which produces radar sensors about 15 miles from New Braunfels, will focus on powertrain components, Mary Arraf, a spokeswoman for Continental, told Automotive News. The New Braunfels plant will take over ADAS production.