Eberspaecher North America, expanding its North American presence, will start building a new commercial-vehicle exhaust aftertreatment systems later this year at its Brighton, Mich., facility.


The news follows a major renovation of its Brighton facility. The multi-million-dollar revamp included retooling 80 percent of the 120,000-square-foot floor space with automated welding equipment for use in assembling the aftertreatment systems.

The company also has installed manufacturing technology at its new Wixom, Mich., facility. The new plant, which has 100,000 square feet, consists of roll-forming and new patented sizing equipment for the production of canning used in the company's selective catalytic reduction systems, designed to meet EPA emissions standards for 2010.

"Our new SCR technology has the ability to reduce nitrogen-oxide emissions by up to 95 percent compared to reductions of only about 50 percent for more conventional NOx-trap systems," said Martin Romzek, vice president of development. "SCR also offers substantial improvements in fuel economy compared to alternative aftertreatment systems."

"Today we're primarily an automotive supplier, but within the next three years we expect our commercial-vehicle operations to account for 50 percent or more of our North American business and contribute to a substantial growth in total sales," Berry said. "Off-highway sales during the next decade will have a significant impact on future growth as well."

Eberspaecher annually invests an average of 6 percent of its net sales in the global development of exhaust-system technologies.