“Caterpillar opened its 23,000 square meter power train facility in Wuxi to produce axles, transmissions and final drives for use in a range of Caterpillar earthmoving and mining machinery,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.
The company also announced it completed a 17,000sq.m expansion at an existing component facility in Wuxi that produces hydraulic cylinders for its machines.
Both facilities are part of Caterpillar’s Advanced Components & Systems division which designs and manufactures technologically advanced components for Caterpillar machines and customers around the world.
"Success in China is an important part of our long-term strategy and we are focused on bringing the complete Caterpillar business model to China in order to better serve and support our customer base,” Caterpillar chairman and chief executive officer Doug Oberhelman said.
Caterpillar has 23 manufacturing facilities, four research and development centers and three logistics and parts centers in China that employ 15,000 workers.
But it has not been all smooth sailing for Caterpillar in China.
Caterpillar paid $886 million in June 2012 to acquire ERA, a Chinese company that makes roof supports for coal mines but last month Caterpillar said an internal investigation found “deliberate, multi-year, coordinated accounting misconduct”.
The unfortunate discovery cost Caterpillar approximately $580 million.