German automotive supplier Wirthwein (Creglingen; www.wirthwein.de) plans to invest about USD 12m (EUR 9.3m) in a new production plant in Fountain Inn, near Spartanburg, South Carolina / USA. Production is scheduled to begin in February 2013. The plant, which is strategically located close to BMW’s Spartanburg facility, will produce plastic parts such as engine cooling components for the customer Brose and door modules for the M- and C-class models of Mercedes by the beginning of 2014.

Wirthwein has created a new subsidiary, South Carolina Plastics, to operate the plant. The investment is expected to lead to the creation of 120 jobs, and hiring is expected to begin in the coming months. The state will provide a USD 825,000 grant to help finance the project. Together with the new US subsidiary, all in all 16 companies do business under the roof of Wirthwein AG. Frank Wirthwein, Marcus Wirthwein and Rainer Zepke have been appointed managing directors of the newly founded company.