What Montaplast of North America makes

Montaplast of North America is the US arm of MONTAPLAST GmbH, a German maker of precision plastic parts for the automotive industry. Its Frankfort, Kentucky plant runs the group's core processes: injection molding, painting, and assembly of composite components that ship into North American vehicle programs. The company's own materials describe it as a maker of automotive intake manifolds, wheel covers, and exterior trim, and its design-build partner records a Frankfort campus of roughly 316,077 square feet built out over about five years across two plant additions, a warehouse, and a technical center.

The product range spans four vehicle zones. On the exterior, Montaplast builds aerodynamic modules such as one-piece injection-molded rear spoilers and aero blades, plus front-end modules where radiator grilles and apertures carry integrated sensors (RADAR, park-distance control) and lighting. For the engine and power side, it makes air induction and filter systems and, for electric vehicles, inverter and battery boxes produced by one-shot molding to save weight over metal versions. Interior work centers on pillar paneling with textile, leather, or foil surfaces and integrated airbag and crash systems. Manufacturing techniques include multicomponent (2K/3K) molding, foil and textile back-molding, in-mold assembly, and in-house toolmaking.

As a Tier-1 or Tier-2 supplier to OEMs, Montaplast keeps most program assignments unnamed, which is normal for a plastics molder. Two customer facts are on the public record through the company's own pages, covered in the customers section below.

Ownership and history

MONTAPLAST traces to 1957, when Albert Stulz sr. founded the business as Presswerk Wessel & Co. in Morsbach, Germany, starting production of injection-molded household-appliance parts in May 1958 before moving into the phono and automotive industries. It is a third-generation family business. Montaplast of North America was established in 1992 as the group's US subsidiary and sits at 2011 Hoover Blvd. in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The company is part of the family-run STULZ Group, founded in Hamburg in 1947 and present in 21 countries with 11 production facilities across Europe, the Americas, India, and China. The wider STULZ Group also makes precision cooling units for data centers through STULZ GmbH; Montaplast is its automotive-plastics arm. Group figures published on the company's home page are about 4,500 employees, 12 production plants, and roughly 750 million euros in annual turnover. The company does not publish standalone North American revenue.

Certifications and quality

Montaplast states that it is internationally certified to IATF 16949, the automotive quality management standard, and satisfies DIN EN ISO 9001, alongside an ISO 50001 energy-management system. These are group-level claims stated on the company's own quality page rather than dated certificates. The company also says it has earned "Preferred Quality Status" with customers and various supplier awards, and it runs an in-house testing center for materials and coatings covering paint adhesion and chemical and physical material analysis. In the automotive plastics trade, APQP and PPAP discipline is the expectation, and IATF 16949 is the entry ticket for supplying German premium programs.

Known customers

Montaplast's customer list is mostly unnamed. The public record supports the following:

Nothing below the Reported bar is published here. The Frankfort plant's role is to localize this kind of work for North American assembly, which is why the group invested in multi-phase expansion there.

Sourcing evidence

US customs bill-of-lading records list Montaplast of North America with 1,002 import shipments, the most recent logged September 21, 2026, which places it among the more active importers in this database. The named foreign suppliers fit an automotive molder's profile: the single largest is the group's own Montaplast Automotive System (SIP) plant in Suzhou, China, an intercompany flow rather than an arm's-length purchase, followed by Mann+Hummel (filtration), Sonceboz (automotive actuators and motors), and Unger Veredlungstechnik (surface finishing).

Two related entities also appear in the data: Montaplast Automotive Systems Mexico, with 16 shipments last recorded in 2021, and a "Montaplast Werk 1" record with a single shipment. These reflect the group's cross-border North American footprint.

Coverage caveats apply. These are US ocean-freight records only; air, truck, and rail movements do not appear, and most US-Mexico flows are excluded. Some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers, and product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence. Buyers weighing nearshoring or tariff exposure on plastic automotive components can read the pattern here as a German molder that both localizes production in Kentucky and draws tooling and specialty inputs from an established global base.

Frequently asked questions

What does Montaplast of North America make?

Montaplast of North America makes precision injection-molded plastic parts and assemblies for the automotive industry at its Frankfort, Kentucky plant. Products include air intake manifolds, active grille shutters and front-end modules, aerodynamic spoilers and exterior trim, wheel covers, interior pillar panels, and inverter or battery boxes for electric vehicles. Its core processes are injection molding, painting, and assembly.

Who owns Montaplast of North America?

Montaplast of North America, Inc. is the US subsidiary of MONTAPLAST GmbH, a third-generation German family business founded in 1957 in Morsbach. MONTAPLAST is part of the family-run STULZ Group, which was founded in Hamburg in 1947 and operates in 21 countries.

Where is Montaplast of North America located?

Montaplast of North America is headquartered at 2011 Hoover Blvd., Frankfort, Kentucky 40601. The plant has been expanded over about five years to roughly 316,077 square feet, with two manufacturing additions, a warehouse, and a technical center. The parent company is in Morsbach, Germany.

Who are Montaplast's customers?

Most of Montaplast's programs are unnamed. The company's own materials document an Audi Q6 e-tron interior program using 100% recycled PET, and its history names Ford, Daimler-Benz, VW, and Bosch as earlier customers. The company states it supplies all German premium manufacturers.

What certifications does Montaplast hold?

Montaplast states it is certified to IATF 16949, the automotive quality standard, and satisfies DIN EN ISO 9001, with an ISO 50001 energy-management system. These are group-level claims published on the company's own quality page.

How large is Montaplast?

Montaplast of North America employs an estimated 500 to 1,000 people at its Frankfort plant. The wider MONTAPLAST group reports about 4,500 employees, 12 production plants, and roughly 750 million euros in annual turnover. The company does not publish standalone North American revenue.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.