Eagle Ottawa to invest $30 million expanding in China
Automotive leather supplier Eagle Ottawa has unveiled plans for a $30 million investment in its Chinese operations, including the construction of a third manufacturing facility, the opening of two new research and development centres and the addition of 400 jobs by 2018.
Its CEO, Jerry Sumpter, said: “The Chinese consumers are speaking loudly and they favour the beautiful attributes that leather brings into a vehicle.”
Eagle Ottawa forecasts the overall Chinese automotive leather market will grow from current levels of $700 million to over $1.2 billion in the next 5 years. It is aiming to grow its market share from 17% to over 28% in 2018, and has invested $100 million in the country to date.
It introduced two products at the Beijing Auto Show this week: a specialty leather designed to meet new Chinese governmental standards for cabin air quality, and a perforation option that allows for customised designs.
