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Auto components manufacturer to open locally
By Dan McCue
Staff Writer
Proponents of the Lowcountry’s burgeoning automotive cluster hit a figurative grand slam on Thursday morning, not only scoring a worldwide supplier of vehicle components for the tri-county region, but securing its North American headquarters as well.
TWL Precision Ltd., and its parent, VTL Group, are headquartered in West Yorkshire, England, and serve the world’s leading engineering and automotive companies.
On Thursday, company officials and the Charleston Regional Development Alliance announced TWL is moving into a new building in the Landmark Business Park, a move that represents a $4 million capital investment by the company. It will supply Cummins Turbo Technologies and other local companies.
The facility will employ about 70, company officials said at the announcement.
TWL is already a key precision component supplier for Toyota manufacturing in Europe, and the automotive industry’s already evident clustering in the tri-county region was a major reason it decided to join the fray.
“This new facility gives TWL a valuable foothold in North America,” said Chris Elliott, managing director of TWL Precision Ltd. “We considered several other sites in Georgia, Mexico and Indianapolis. The Charleston region seemed the perfect choice due to its proximity to our existing customer base, the support of the local government agencies and the growing demand for engineering products in the region.”
Bruno Jouan, group chairman of TWL’s parent company, said establishing a facility in the Charleston region is part of the company’s wider strategy of manufacturing products close to the customer, thereby improving service and quality and cutting logistics costs.
Jouan also announced the company is already making plans to expand in the region.
“This is a testament to the power of industry clusters,” said CRDA Chairman Robert Pratt said. “TWL is just the latest world-class company to see the value in locating a facility among other leading automotive suppliers. We welcome them to our growing automotive hub.”
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