Borla of Oxnard Opens Muffler Plant in China

Borla Performance, a manufacturer of high-performance exhaust systems in the United States, is going global with the recent opening of the first-ever joint venture muffler manufacturing facility in China.

The Jiaxing Borla Exhaust Co. recently opened a 100,000-square-foot facility in Jiaxing to manufacture and distribute the mufflers. The facility employs 100 people.

Oxnard-based Borla Performance has both an ownership position in the newly formed company and a management contract to oversee the operation of the plant.

The new facility, the largest of its kind in China, is fully automated and uses the latest manufacturing technology to produce up to 500 mufflers an hour, company officials said.

The company was formed in response to the rapid growth of automobile manufacturing in China. It is slated to supply exhaust products to worldwide auto producers such as Volkswagen, Audi, Peugeot, Citroen, Chrysler/Jeep and General Motors/Buick, as well as Chinese manufacturers FAW, SAW, Yueda and ASHA.

Borla Performance, which holds several patents, also gained approval for the distribution and sale of its exhaust products in Japan in 1994.

Company officials said they will pursue other business opportunities in China.