Athens.- ANA-MPA

Sunlight, a member of Olympia Group, has announced its further expansion in international markets with the set up of a subsidiary, Sunlight Batteries USA Inc, in the State of North Carolina, marking its entrance in the U.S. market.

In an announcement, the company said this was a major step of growth in the strategic market of the U.S., making the company the biggest player in the industrial batteries sector. The setting up of the new company will be accompanied with the beginning of operations of the biggest assembly unit for LED and lithium batteries, expected in the first half of 2020.

Sunlight’s consolidated strong position in the European market enabled it to take the next big step by expanding to America through the establishment of Sunlight Batteries USA Inc. Already, over the last six years, Sunlight has been making quite a dynamic headway in the American market, providing its full range of industrial batteries and chargers for Electric Industrial Vehicles (eIVs) to major international supply chain partners.

On the occasion of the establishment of Sunlight Batteries USA Inc., Mr. Robby Bourlas, Chief Executive Officer of the company said: “The establishment of Sunlight in the US market is a significant milestone to our growth plan. With the launch of Sunlight Batteries USA, we create our largest assembly hub and a strategic geographic presence in a market we have been exporting to for the last six years. This proximity will allow us to offer our highest quality products along with the best possible delivery times in order to better serve the demanding needs of the US market. Our total investment of 10 million dollars over the next three years is a starting point to support our organic growth but we are also evaluating other strategic investment opportunities.”

A key target of the newly established company, which will start with initial investment of 6.5 million dollars for equipment and infrastructure, will be the operation of a new assembly hub with a total area of 9.700 square meters, rendering it larger than the already existing one in Verona, Italy, which serves the European market. The new hub will further enhance the production capacity of traction batteries by 200.000 cells per year, ensuring at the same time better product delivery times to SUNLIGHT’s international partners throughout the American continent. It is worth noting that North Carolina’s local government is welcoming the international investment, which is planned to create 46 new jobs in the area, and intends to support it with a 400.000 dollars grant. North Carolina has the 5th largest manufacturing economy in the US and has excellent transportation infrastructure.

Sunlight ranks among the world’s leading batteries manufacturers in the market of Electric Industrial Vehicles (EIVs) batteries, with a share reaching the 10 pct of worldwide sales volume. As a company with a strong extroversion, it has already successfully entered for years now into European markets, such as those of Germany, Spain, Italy et al., where it now holds extremely high shares and an expanded clientele, while it already has a large assembly hub in Verona, Italy.