French casting specialist Montupet has started construction of its facility in the Changzhou National High-tech District, Jiangsu province. As the first Montupet firm in China, Changzhou Montupet Auto-parts Co., Ltd will develop and produce cylinder heads, precision castings and other auto parts.
The French supplier will invest $US29.98 million in the first phase of the project which, upon completion, is expected to manufacture 700,000 sets of aluminum cylinder heads annually for all kinds of auto engines. Montupet aims to build in China a core company with an annual output of 1.4 million aluminum cylinder heads for auto use and to export these products worldwide.

The century-old Montupet is a leading European maker and supplier of auto castings and commands the world's cutting-edge technology of aluminum castings manufacturing. The company produces 4 million units a year in Europe and America. Sales were about 520 million euro for 2007. Customers include Renault, Volkswagen, Citroen and other major automobile manufacturers.

The arrival of Montupet will boost the auto-parts industry of Changzhou High-tech District, which now is home to many global makers of auto parts, including the world top 500 enterprises, such as Magna International (power assembly), Visteon (auto lighting), Bridgestone's (shock absorber), Leoni's (auto wiring), and Mitsubishi Electric (auto electric motors, generators, distributor caps).