Nexteer Automotive has opened a new plant in Liuzhou, China — a site of more than 40,000 square meters that extends a manufacturing footprint the company says has produced over 12 million steering system units in the city since 2015.

The Michigan-headquartered Tier 1 steering supplier positions the opening as a capacity and capability upgrade rather than a greenfield bet. Nexteer says the new facility will meet growing demand from domestic and global customers and support expansion into overseas markets, notably Southeast Asia.

The plant will build Column-Assist Electric Power Steering (CEPS) systems, manual steering gears, motor controller modules, controllers, motors and related components. Nexteer has not disclosed a unit capacity figure or headcount for the site. Production and operations will transition gradually from existing Liuzhou operations to the new plant.

The site includes modern production facilities, R&D and laboratory areas, a test track, an employee centre and supporting infrastructure. Nexteer says its digital, automated and lean operating models will improve production efficiency, product quality and customer responsiveness.

Supplier park strategy

The Liuzhou opening is a deliberate move in Nexteer's smart manufacturing and industrial collaboration strategy. The company plans a supplier collaboration industrial park around the new plant, designed to tighten cooperation across the value chain and build what Nexteer calls "a more efficient and competitive automotive components ecosystem."

That cluster approach targets supply chain resilience and localized support — a growing requirement for global suppliers serving Chinese OEMs pushing into export markets.

The plant also carries Nexteer's electrification roadmap. The company says the facility's high-standard manufacturing platform and flexible production lines will expand scaled delivery of core products while creating headroom for future deployment of Motion-by-Wire technology — Nexteer's steer-, brake- and software-by-wire portfolio aimed at software-defined vehicles.

Executives frame the stakes

"Liuzhou is one of Nexteer's important strategic locations in China. Over the past decade and more, we have grown alongside our customers and worked hand in hand with our employees and have experienced firsthand the vitality and resilience of Liuzhou's automotive industry," said Jun Li, Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Asia Pacific Divisional President at Nexteer.

"The official opening of the new plant today is not only an important milestone in Nexteer's development in Liuzhou, but also a strong commitment to our continued investment in China and to serving local customers," Li said.

Robin Milavec, President, Global COO and Executive Board Director, framed the plant in product-cycle terms: "The automotive industry's transition toward electrification, intelligent mobility and software-defined vehicles is creating new expectations for speed, flexibility and execution. Our new Liuzhou plant strengthens Nexteer's global manufacturing network with advanced, flexible capabilities that will help us respond more quickly and reliably to evolving customer needs. It also positions us to support the continued development and industrialization of our Motion-by-Wire portfolio across steering, braking and software."

Liuzhou context

Liuzhou anchors one of China's major regional vehicle clusters, home to SAIC-GM-Wuling and Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor. Nexteer first set up operations in the city in 2015, and the cumulative 12-million-unit steering production figure the company cites underscores the scale it has reached there in a decade.

The new plant will work closely with Nexteer's Asia Pacific Technical Center in Suzhou and the supplier's global manufacturing network.

What to watch

Three markers will show whether the Liuzhou upgrade delivers: the pace of the production transfer from the legacy site, the first tenant announcements at the planned supplier park, and any timeline Nexteer gives for industrializing Motion-by-Wire production at the plant. A stated unit capacity for the new site remains the missing number.