ITT to invest further $20m as auto market races ahead

ITT Corp, the US engineering and manufacturing company, announced on Thursday that it will invest another $20 million in its Wuxi braking-technology production base and a research & development center.

This follows a $30 million investment in the past two years.

Denise Ramos, ITT's chief executive officer and president, said China's auto industry is developing rapidly, which has led to increasing foreign investment.

"ITT is going to enlarge our production and R&D base to better serve our customers here in China," she said.

According to the company, China's auto industry will have an annual production scale of 30 million vehicles in 2017, passing the total of North America and Europe.

Luca Savi, president of the company's Motion Technologies division, said as China's auto market is becoming increasingly mature, Chinese customers now have higher requirements for vehicle safety and quality, which brings opportunities for companies like ITT.

China made clean-energy vehicles a strategic new industry in September 2010, providing opportunities for manufacturers of electric cars, in order to reduce emissions and protect the environment.

Aris Chicles, executive vice-president of the company, said they are now cooperating with Chinese clients to develop new types of engines using natural gas as fuel, to reduce pollution.