Fuel Systems Solutions Inc., a publicly traded maker of alternative fuel engine parts, has moved its headquarters from Cerritos to Santa Ana.
The company’s 108,000-square-foot Santa Ana building is “much more efficient in terms of manufacturing and assembly,” said Thomas Costales, Fuel Systems’ chief financial officer.
Fuel Systems left a 105,000-square-foot building just over the county line in Cerritos.
The Santa Ana building houses Fuel Systems’ corporate offices and manufacturing for Impco Technologies Inc., a subsidiary that makes engine parts for propane and natural gas vehicles.
Fuel Systems trades on Nasdaq with a recent market value of about $200 million. The company expects sales of about $200 million this year.
The company joins an offshoot alternative fuel company in Orange County, Irvine’s Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc.
Quantum, which designs alternative fuel systems for cars and planes, used to be part of Impco before spinning off in 2002. Quantum had a recent market value of about $120 million.
In Santa Ana, Fuel Systems employs about 150 people. The majority made the move from Cerritos, spokesman Gary Maier said.
The company employs 700 people in all, with many in Europe where Fuel Systems owns Italy’s BRC Gas Equipment, which makes gear for converting vehicles from gasoline to alternative fuels.
Impco makes fuel storage tank and meters, fuel control systems, exhaust catalysts and conversion kits for industrial machinery.
Parts from Impco end up in autos, trucks, forklifts, shuttle buses and other vehicles made by companies such as Honda Motor Co., Caterpillar Inc., Mitsubishi Corp., BMW AG, PSA Peugeot Citroen SA and Ford Motor Co.
Impco, which stands for Imperial Machine Products Co., started in 1958 in South Gate. The company’s first product, the CA300A carburetor, was known as the “Imperial” and still is sold today.
For the six months ended June 30, Fuel Systems saw sales rise 54% to $113.2 million from a year earlier, largely on global sales.
The company outgrew its Cerritos facility, according to financial chief Costales. The Santa Ana building isn’t much bigger but “better suited our plant layout,” he said.
“We’ve made a lot of improvements to our manufacturing lines there,” Costales said.
The Santa Ana site has automated production gear, according to Costales.
Fuel systems may hire more employees as Impco steps up production, Costales said.
“We are expecting to double our business in the next four to seven years,” he said.
The company is going after a growing market but now only covers a fraction of vehicles worldwide.
Some 5.7 million vehicles use alternative forms of gas, such as natural gas or propane, according to the International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles and the European Natural Gas Association. Most are public buses, shuttles and taxicabs.
By 2010, the groups estimate the number of alternative gas vehicles to rise by 25%.
