US automotive supplier Key Plastics (Farmington Hills, Michigan / USA; www.keyplastics.com), plans to build a EUR 15m plant at Dolny Kubin in the Slovak Republic, according to reports from Slovakia. The facility would supply plastic components to the new PSA factory currently under construction in the western part of the country and probably also a KIA assembly plant. Key Plastics has a long-time relationship with both the French and the Korean car makers.

At the end of July, the parent company, Key Automotive Group (see PIE 11, 2003), together with Key Plastics and another subsidiary, Key Safety Systems, was acquired in full by the Ewing Management Group (EMG, Dallas, Texas / USA). EMG is the legal vehicle for the interests of B. Edward Ewing, who is also chairman and CEO of the Key group. Ewing previously was CEO of the Carlyle Management Group, which, together with Lightyear Capital, took over the bankrupt Key Plastics in 2001.

The Key Automotive holding, formed under the roof of the Carlyle management group following the additional purchase of automotive supplier Breed Technologies, currently has sales of around USD 1.6 bn. Of this, Key Plastics, with 4,500 employees at 27 sites worldwide, accounts for USD 500m. Key Safety – airbags, safety belts, steering wheels – has 10,000 employees at 32 sites.