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SAGINAW, MI – With an investment of $150 million, Nexteer Automotive is positioning its massive manufacturing complex here to capitalize on the North American industry’s migration from hydraulic to electric power steering.

Europe has led the transition to EPS over the past decade because the on-demand system can reduce fuel consumption 3%-4% when compared with conventional hydraulic power steering, which runs off a pump connected to the engine and is active as long as the vehicle is running.

EPS, on the other hand, draws power only when the driver turns the wheel.

Nexteer executives, joined by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, recently announced part of Plant 3, the oldest of seven facilities here, will be retooled to produce EPS units mostly for fullsize pickups.

First appearing in small cars, EPS now is arriving in larger vehicles. By 2013, Nexteer says nine out of 10 new fullsize trucks will have Nexteer EPS systems, powered by conventional 12V electrical systems.

Much of the plant remodeling will focus on launching EPS for General Motors’ next-generation fullsize pickups and SUVs, slated for production next year. This program, alone, will retain 1,000 jobs here, the supplier says.

Protecting jobs has been a sore subject here in central Michigan and in particular at this plant, the second-largest employer in Saginaw County.

Twenty years ago, when the plant belonged to GM, it employed about 10,000 people. It became part of Delphi when GM spun off its parts-making operations in 1999. Delphi went bankrupt in 2005, and in 2009 GM took back the steering business to ensure steady supply of product and to find a new owner.

By that time, employment at the Saginaw facilities had fallen to 3,080 people.