Major Asian auto suppliers building second EV parts plant in Windsor

Two major Asian automotive suppliers say they're teaming up to build a new manufacturing facility in Windsor and expand the region's electric vehicle supply chain.

Minth Group, headquartered in Taiwan, announced in April that it was spending $300 million to build a parts factory on surplus airport land in Windsor. The company, which produces EV battery casings, said the investment would bring 1,100 new jobs to the area. 

On Tuesday, the firm revealed that it's launching a joint venture with AISIN Corporation, a large Japan-based parts manufacturer, that will bring a second factory to the area.

"This new site is expected to generate hundreds of new high-quality jobs and will be instrumental in producing key aluminum, steel, and polymer-based parts for electric vehicle platforms across North America," Invest WindsorEssex said in a press release. 

Vic Fedeli, Ontario's minister of economic development, described the partnership "as a strong signal of confidence in Ontario's auto sector," and said it will "create hundreds of new, good-paying jobs in the Windsor-Essex region, building on the 1,000 jobs created through Minth's previous investment." 

William Chin, Minth's chief strategy officer, told reporters after the announcement that the jobs created by the second facility were already included in the original 1,100 figure. Chin said they had to finalize details and the partnership with AISIN before they could announce the other factory, though.

Fideli's office later clarified that the minister was referring to spin-off jobs in the community.

Tuesday's announcement comes amid a slowdown in the EV market and halted work on other major EV projects in Canada. It also comes as construction continues on the sprawling, $5 billion NextStar Energy plant in Windsor's east end that will produce EV batteries for global automaker Stellantis. 

The provincial government has invested heavily in NextStar, and is providing Minth a loan of up to $40 million through the Invest Ontario Fund. The City of Windsor has said it's also supporting the project through its community improvement plan. 

"At a time when global economic uncertainty is top of mind, today's announcement is a powerful reminder that Windsor remains resilient, competitive, and open for business," Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said in the press release Tuesday.

A great deal of that economic uncertainty in Windsor and beyond is rooted in U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs, particularly those on the auto sector, which have cost North American carmakers billions in recent months. 

But Scott Turpin, president and CEO of AISIN World Corp. of America, said the joint venture with Minth "was going forward regardless" of U.S.-Canada trade tensions, which he predicted will be "short-lived."

"We made the decision to move forward regardless of the noise that we're hearing right now in this news cycle," he said Tuesday. "We want to make sure that we're not letting politics drive our business decisions."

AISIN already has a significant global footprint, including a facility in Stratford, Ont., and offices across the river in Michigan, Turpin said in explaining why they chose to set up shop in Windsor.

AISIN is "one of the world's largest tier one automotive suppliers," Invest WindsorEssex said, and serves as "a major supplier to Toyota and virtually every top global automaker." 

The construction and design of both the first and second facility are being undertaken by Windsor's Rosati Group. The first factory is scheduled to be done by September, Chin said, with mass production starting early next year.