TRAVERSE CITY, MI – Startup of aluminum bumper beam production at Alcan Inc.’s new plant in Novi, MI, has been pushed back a few months for an unspecified vehicle program that has been delayed.
Alcan celebrated the opening of the Novi facility in April, which will manufacture advanced bumper beam assemblies for a pair of North American-built vehicles for a European auto maker. (See related story: Alcan: Expansion Times Two)
The facility also houses the new North American headquarters for Alcan’s automotive structures and sheet operations.
In April, Alcan officials said the highly automated plant would start production in three months.
Because of the delay, the first bumpers now will be delivered in September.
Meanwhile, Mark White, Jaguar senior body structures manager-Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles, Ford Motor Co., says the bumpers on the Jaguar X-Type now are Alcan-supplied aluminum systems.
The new XK and S-Type also will have bolt-on aluminum front ends, White says.
