DENSO, an enormous automotive supplier with headquarters in Japan and 220 facilities in 35 countries, plans to produce a next-generation inverter for US OEMs at its plant in Maryville, Tennessee. The Maryville location will be the site of one billion dollars of new investment in electrification, connectivity and safety products over the next few years.

DENSO calls its Tennessee facility “one of its key manufacturing locations, which is localizing a critical product for North American customers focused on electric vehicles.”

The Maryville factory will produce the first of DENSO’s next-generation power modules, “a critical component for the smaller and more efficient inverters needed for future electrified vehicles.”

“The shift to electric vehicles will occur in stages, but we need to ramp up R&D and production now,” said Kenichiro Ito, CEO of DENSO International America. “Our long-term vision is a future with enhanced mobility, with less impact on the environment, and DENSO is committed to advancing automotive innovation.”

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Source: DENSO