Kokomo City Council to consider $50 million abatement for Delphi

Monday, the Kokomo Common Council will consider abating up to $50 million in new local investment by Delphi Corp., as the parts supplier gears up for a major electric vehicle project.

Last year Delphi received an $89.3 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to produce electric-hybrid technology in Kokomo.

The investment is expected to bring 190 new jobs to Kokomo by 2014, and Delphi is matching the grant — up to $178.6 million — representing a three-year investment to advance the development of low-cost manufacturing of electric-drive vehicles in the U.S.

To accommodate the project, Delphi officials announced plans in December to expand the company’s technical base in Kokomo and to establish a new production facility.

A global supplier of electronics for the automotive and commercial vehicle industries, Delphi is expected to invest more than $59 million to lease and equip an empty 90,000-square-foot facility at 1501 E. 200 North.

The facility will be used to manufacture electronics products for the emerging electric-drive vehicle market.

“Indiana can lead the electric-car transition and Delphi is a big reason why,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said in December. “It’s great to see this iconic company growing again and bringing its historic skills to bear on this huge new opportunity.”

Starting this year, the new Delphi facility on 200 North (Morgan Street) will be completed in three phases, with the last phase scheduled to be completed in 2013.

Delphi currently employs approximately 1,400 at its Kokomo Electronics and Safety division. Jeff Owens, vice president of Delphi Corp. and president of Electronic and Safety, said hiring will begin in this year as the new product line is developed.

Over the next five years, Delphi plans to add 95 engineers at its technology center, which will increase its engineering department to more than 300.

It also plans to hire 40 people at a facility where power electronics will be manufactured, and by 2015, employment there will be around 95 jobs.

In December, Owens said new engineering staff will be located at the company’s Lincoln Road facility, while manufacturing associates will be housed at the new facility.

As of Thursday, the abatement will phase in, over five years, the personal property taxes on machinery installed either at the Morgan Street facility or at the existing Delphi facilities along East Lincoln Road.

City controller Jim Brannon said negotiations with the company could result in the abatement being extended to 10 years.