Marine engine plant opens in Mooresville

Ilmor Marine, LLC, a subsidiary of Ilmor Engineering, Inc., began production Wednesday at its new headquarters in Mooresville.

The 50,000-square-foot marine engine assembly and test facility, under construction since 2008, is capable of assembling up to 15,000 engines per year. The first engines off the production line Wednesday are already on their way to the OEM customer – MasterCraft Boat Company.

Ilmor Engineering, Inc., employs 15 in Mooresville, but plans to have 30 workers by year's end. The facility took over a vacant building on the Penske campus in the Mooresville Business Park.

A high-performance powertrain engineering company, Ilmor has operated worldwide since 1984.

"This is a great day for our marine division. The program has been in the works for over three years," said Paul Ray, President of Ilmor Engineering, Inc. "We found a solid opportunity when we entered the marine business as a racing organization in 2002.

"Our core business had been auto-racing, but we believed our engineering skills could be put to good use in the high-performance boating industry.

"We made the decision to enter the inboard market in 2007," Ray continued. "Since then, our staff has worked flat-out on engine design and development, in-water testing, engine integration and facility construction. The new facility allows us to expand into higher volume markets, with an initial focus upon our key partner, MasterCraft, the lead manufacturer of luxury performance inboards."

Ilmor's inboard offerings in the fresh water and salt water 'Ocean Performance Series'
will be 5.7L (litre), 6.0L and 6.2L variants based upon industry standard General Motors
powerplants. Each engine is assembled with Ilmor-developed parts and systems to
increase overall performance and reliability. All of the engines are EPA, California-ARB
and EU-RCD emissions compliant.

"We created an assembly plant that is very much in keeping with Ilmor's other facilities
around the world – both from a quality perspective and from a technology point of view,"
said Ronald A. Brown, President of Ilmor Marine LLC. "We have partnered with Fanuc
and PPG to create a robotic paint system that ensures a very high-quality paint
application. This ultra-clean system also helps create an employee-friendly environment.

In every instance, we searched for suppliers and technology partners that share Ilmor's
passion for excellence and are the highest quality in their specialty, including companies
like GM and ZF. In an economy where most companies have scaled back investments,
Ilmor has invested heavily in the future of the marine industry with the latest
technology."

Ilmor has worked closely with the state of North Carolina and Iredell County to hire
skilled specialists from the area.

"Through careful planning and product development, we now have a very well-known
brand synonymous with performance, high-quality and strong customer support," said
Ray. "Each of those attributes are very important to us, and our goal is to provide all of
our customers with the same experience as we expand into exciting new areas of the
marine business."

Created in 1984, Ilmor Engineering is a worldwide leader in high-performance
powertrain engineering. Its' championship heritage includes 16 Indianapolis 500 wins,
two Formula One World Championships and three Powerboat P1 World Championships.

Ilmor's facilities in Europe and the United States provide engineering and manufacturing
expertise to the auto, motorcycle, aircraft and defense industries as well as motorsports
clients in IndyCar and Stock Car.