Toyoda Gosei expanding body sealing operations

TROY, Mich. (March 13)—TG North America Corp. in November bought out its body sealing joint venture with Metzeler Automotive Profile Systems North America Inc. and began production at its new Kentucky plant in January. TGNA began producing the complete body sealing system for the 2004 Toyota minivan at its Hopkinsville, Ky., through one extrusion line. By the end of this year, TG will add another 55,000 square feet to the 120,000-sq.-ft. plant and add another two extrusion lines to phase in new production for Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Honda of America Manufacturing Inc. over the next couple of years. Last fall TGNA paid an undisclosed amount to buy 100-percent interest in its 16-year-old joint venture operation, California Automotive Sealing Inc., renaming the business TG California Automotive Sealing Inc. TGNA's body sealing sales, which represented about 40 percent of its total 2002 revenue of $516 million, should double from about $206.4 million in 2002 to about $412.8 million in 2006, said Sylvain Dube, general manager of Japanese original equipment manufacturer sales for TGNA.