Johnson Controls May Set Up New Seating Plant in Togliatti

Russian media reports suggest that US supplier Johnson Controls Inc. (JCI) is considering setting up a manufacturing plant in Russia’s Togliatti Special Economic Zone for the production of seating systems. The total cost of the project is estimated at €35 to €40 million, while the initial annual capacity is expected to amount to about 40,000 sets of complete seats. The plant's products will reportedly be supplied to locally produced Renault-Nissan and Lada vehicles.

The first reports of JCI’s related plans were announced in 2007, but the project was suspended because of the economic recession. JCI would be the second foreign manufacturer of complete seating systems to have production facilities in the Togliatti SEZ. TPV, a Slovenian company, recently set up a joint venture with local supplier group, Krista Ltd. Together they will start supplying seats for AvtoVAZ’s high volume low-cost car, the Lada Granta in the near future.

JCI’s automotive division currently operates two production facilities in Russia. The company has a plant in Shushary in the St. Petersburg region (seating system components) and another in Togliatti (interior trim parts).