French auto parts supplier to build plant in Toledo

Faurecia North America will be the third auto parts supplier to call Toledo’s Overland Industrial Park home.

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Faurecia North America has plans to open a factory in central Toledo’s Overland Industrial Park, The Blade has learned, increasing the number of auto parts suppliers located on the former grounds of the Jeep Parkway plant to three. 

Faurecia North America will be the third auto parts supplier to call Toledo’s Overland Industrial Park home.

Ed Harmon, the president of NAI Harmon Group, said construction of Faurecia’s 72,900-square-foot building should begin soon. Officials are headed before the Toledo Plan Commission on Thursday for final approval of the site plan. 

Faurecia officials could not be reached for comment on Wednesday. But Mr. Harmon, whose company is the developer of the Overland Industrial Park, said the firm will create between 85 and 100 jobs. 

“They just do everything right,” he said. “We’re doing what we committed to do — to bring manufacturing to Toledo, world-class companies.”

NAI Harmon, which will own the building and lease it back to Faurecia, expects to spend about $10.5 million on the structure, Mr. Harmon said. 

Ed Harmon

The Overland Industrial Park, which is tucked in between Interstate 75 and North Detroit Avenue, was once home to the sprawling automotive empire of John North Willys. Millions of Jeeps were built there, including hundreds of thousands sent overseas during World War II. Following the closure of the plant, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority worked to clear the site of decades worth of pollution and concrete foundations in hopes that the automotive industry could be reborn there.

It was not easy, but it’s clearly been successful. In 2016, both Dana Inc. and Detroit Manufacturing Systems announced they would open new plants within the industrial park to supply Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ Toledo Assembly Complex. That factory, which builds the Jeep Wrangler, sits less than 5 miles away.

Faurecia, which has its global headquarters in France, will also supply Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, though Mr. Harmon declined to say exactly what Faurecia would build there.

However, the timing of the project — officials said the plant is expected to be finished by next year’s first quarter — seems to suggest it will support the upcoming Jeep pickup. FCA officials have said production of that vehicle should begin either very late this year or in early 2019. 

Paul Toth, president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, called the Faurecia plant a win for Toledo. 

“This kind of continues to reinforce the vision we had for the Overland Industrial Park when we started back in 2010,” he said. “We’re obviously very happy to see another tier-one auto supplier moving in there and committing to another 85 or so jobs.”

Among Detroit Manufacturing, Dana, and Faurecia, the industrial park should be home to more than 600 auto parts jobs, Mr. Toth said.

Work is also under way within the industrial park for the future home of Consolidated Electrical Distributors, which is combining several existing area facilities into a single location. Mr. Toth said work on that 30,000-square-foot building should be finished by Dec. 1. 

The port authority and NAI Harmon continue to search for additional tenants for the Overland Industrial Park, and Mr. Toth said Wednesday they believe they could accommodate a total of 300,000 to 350,000 square feet of building space. 

Contact Tyrel Linkhorn at tlinkhorn@theblade.com, 419-724-6134, or on Twitter @TyrelLinkhorn.