Two Southeast Michigan companies will supply Volkswagen plant

Two Southeast Michigan suppliers were among the first to be named by Volkswagen AG as suppliers to its new plant in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Troy-based EMCON Technologies L.L.C. will supply cold end exhaust systems and Auburn Hills-based Saturn Electronics & Engineering Inc. will supply solid state electronics modules for a new mid-size sedan to be made at Volkswagen’s new plant.

“EMCON Technologies has a long history of delivering quality exhaust products to Volkswagen production facilities abroad and we are looking forward to bringing that environmentally-friendly technology to our new Tennessee plant,” Volkswagen’s Chattanooga CEO Frank Fischer said in a statement.

EMCON employs about 7,500 people at operations in 19 countries and posts about $4 billion in annual revenue, according to the company’s Web site. EMCON is owned by One Equity Partners, a New York-based equity and investment firm that manages about $8 billion in investments from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. The company was formed in 2004 after One Equity Partners bought Troy-based ArvinMeritor Inc.’s exhaust systems business for about $310 million.

Saturn Electronics & Engineering, a certified minority-owned supplier, will develop the solid state electronics modules for Volkswagen’s new sedan from Saturn’s headquarters in Auburn Hills.

“Saturn presented us with exactly what we were looking for: an innovative and cost-effective module that is tailored to our U.S. consumer market,” Fischer said in the statement. “As a minority-owned business, we are pleased to have Saturn as a partner in the production of the vehicle.”