Poland‑headquartered seating systems supplier Brose Sitech has announced it will establish its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Blythewood, South Carolina, to produce complete seating systems for Scout Motors. The company said the new 140,000‑square‑foot plant will be built inside the Scout Supplier Park and is expected to be online in 2027.
The investment and plan
Brose Sitech described the project as a $29.5 million investment that will create around 330 jobs as production ramps up. The Blythewood site will manufacture complete seat sets for the Scout Traveler SUV and the Scout Terra pickup truck, enabling just‑in‑time delivery by locating the supplier inside the customer’s on‑site supplier park. Brose Sitech said the move complements its Detroit‑area central functions for sales, engineering and program management.
Brose Sitech is a joint venture consolidated by Brose and headquartered in Polkowice, Poland, where the group operates multiple production sites and research functions. The company emphasised that the Blythewood facility builds on Brose Sitech’s existing global footprint — 22 locations including plants in Poland, Czechia and Germany — and will strengthen its ability to serve North American customers locally.
What this means for the market
The decision by a supplier headquartered in Central Europe to set up a manufacturing plant inside a U.S. OEM supplier park highlights two broader trends: the globalisation of Central and Eastern European automotive suppliers, and the growing importance of proximity to large new vehicle programmes. For Brose Sitech, closer physical integration with Scout Motors reduces logistics risk and supports synchronous production flows — a benefit cited by both the company and South Carolina officials in their announcements.
For CEE’s supplier base, the move underscores how Polish‑rooted Tier‑1s are converting European operational scale into international expansion. Brose Sitech’s investment also signals continuing demand from vehicle OEMs for established CEE suppliers that can deliver engineered interior systems at scale — even as production footprints shift closer to new North American assembly plants. Automotive supply‑chain analysts noted that locating inside OEM supplier parks is an increasingly common approach to secure contracts for high‑volume programmes.
Operationally, the Blythewood project will create a direct manufacturing link between Brose Sitech’s Polish engineering and its U.S. production output, but Brose Sitech noted the Blythewood plant will be complemented by the company’s Detroit‑area central functions for sales, program management, engineering, purchasing, finance and HR. That structure aims to keep product development and programme control close to customers while expanding local manufacturing capacity.
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Sources: Brose Sitech, South Carolina Department of Commerce
