Sika Automtoive, a Madison Heights-based supplier of automotive bonding, sealing, damping, and reinforcing products for vehicle body-in-white, body structure, interior, and exterior components, has opened a new factory in Sao Paulo for its adhesive and acoustic products.
With an adjoining technology center, the new, roughly 32,800-square-foot factory will manufacture adhesives and a range of acoustic products for the automotive market in Latin America. The products can be used in various applications, including acoustic and sealing applications, to reduce the noise level in cars by more than 30 percent, or to structurally bond vehicle body shells.
“Following the successful acquisition of Colauto (a Colombia-based manufacturer) in 2011, we remain strongly committed to (Latin America’s) automotive industry and are investing further in the expansion of our product portfolio and production capacities,” says Dave Jones, head of global automotive for the company.
He says Sika Automotive’s Sao Paulo factory will allow the company to provide its global product range to international carmakers, such as FCA, Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co., Volkswagen, and Toyota.
The facility has 180 employees, as well as the capacity for additional growth.
Today, more than 25 million vehicles produced worldwide use structural adhesives by Sika Automotive, which is a subsidiary of specialty chemicals company Sika Group. Sika Group has subsidiaries in 93 countries around the world and manufactures in over 170 factories. Its approximately 17,000 employees generated annual sales of about $5.6 billion in 2015.
