NEW HUDSON — Lyon Township is turning into a major hub of automotive suppliers, as the DESign Group prepares to open a new U.S. site in August.
The South Africa-based company engineers, manufactures and installs robotic equipment used to assemble vehicles. The company, founded in 1998, will open its first U.S. headquarters and manufacturing operation, DESign USA Inc., in a 153,000 square-foot facility in South Hill Business Park.
The $19 million project, approved in the fall of 2022, is expected to create 45 “high-paying” jobs and be an economic boon for the area.
“We’re obviously appreciative that the township has welcomed us and see a great opportunity to expand this business in New Hudson,” Ruaan Holtzhausen, automation manager for DESign USA, said. “There are various other businesses in New Hudson that are suppliers of ours and now (are) just a doorstep away and our neighbors.”
Holtzhausen expects the upcoming move to Lyon Township to be the company’s last, after establishing an initial North America foothold in Macomb Township in 2017, where he said they worked on the reintroduction of the Ford Ranger. The company moved from that site to one in Livonia, followed by Plymouth for warehouse space, and then to a 33,000-square-foot Canton facility.
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The new 153,000 square-foot facility will give DESign USA the space to manufacture the assembly equipment for new Ford and Lincoln electric vehicles. He also notes there is room for expansion in the business park.
The company currently manufactures assembly equipment for Ford’s electric vehicles in Canada. It previously manufactured the body in Mexico for the Mach-E, also known as the electric Ford Mustang, although Holtzhausen notes “people are divided on (the name) because it doesn’t look like a Mustang.”
The Michigan Strategic Fund is supporting DESign USA Inc.’s New Hudson headquarters with a $466,650 Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant. Michigan was chosen for the project over a competing site in South Carolina because of the company’s established relationships with Michigan-based suppliers and customers.
DDA Director Amy Allen said the company did not receive a tax abatement, an incentive the township board put an end to last year.
DESign USA Inc. will be situated on a roughly 8-acre lot behind Magna, another automotive supplier, in the business park, which Allen said has five or six more parcels available.
“We are still competitive with bringing in larger companies to the area and this just verifies that we do need to continue to build our community and create more recreational and entertainment destinations to serve the new employees and families moving into the area,” Allen said. “It’s good news for our community.”
“We are very excited to be relocating our U.S. headquarters to our new facility in Michigan,” DESign Group Director John Ferreira said. “We are grateful to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and their local partners who have helped us with our United States expansion. We look forward to working with the local workforce, innovators and manufacturers in Michigan.”
Contact reporter Susan Bromley at [email protected] or 517-281-2412. Follow her on Twitter @SusanBromley10.
