US automotive supplier Johnson Controls (JCI, European HQ: D-51399 Burscheid; www.jci.com) plans to build a EUR 20m plant for automobile seats moulded in PU foam at Lucenec in central Slovakia. The facility is due to start up in mid-2006, parallel to the start of production at South Korean car maker KIA´s Zilina plant, which it will supply. According to the Slovakian economics ministry, the seats project will employ around 350 people in a region plagued by high unemployment. JCI had been expected to locate the plant at its technology centre in Trencin. The company already produces seats at Martin in central Slovakia, and at Bratislava. It also has production facilities in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary.