DuPont opens automotive Innovation Center near Detroit
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DETROIT -- Supplier DuPont Co. has opened an r&d operation in suburban Detroit aimed at boosting collaboration between its automotive customers and its 9,500 researchers around the world.
The 3,000-square-foot Innovation Center, inside DuPont's Automotive Development Center, is DuPont's first in the United States and fourth worldwide with an automotive focus. Its other automotive centers are in Pune, India; Seoul, Korea; and Nagoya, Japan, the company said Thursday.
The operation north of Detroit has several meeting areas with videoconferencing capabilities. The company wouldn't disclose the cost of the Innovation Center.
DuPont has more than 100 product lines in the auto industry, which is "hugely important" to the company, said Thomas Connelly, executive vice president of DuPont.
DuPont, of Wilmington, Del., will generate more than $3 billion in sales to the auto industry on a continuing basis after the chemical giant agreed to sell its Performance Coatings unit to Carlyle Group, according to a spokeswoman. The sale is expected to close in early 2013.
You can reach Vince Bond Jr. at vbond@crain.com. -- Follow Vince on 
