AK Steel Invests In Custom-Made Car Company.(Brief Article)

AK Steel Corp. said it has made a $5 million investment as a founding partner in Build-to-Order Inc., a maker of custom-made vehicles. Build-to-Order was formed in April through a merger of the former Model E Corp. and Flint Inc. The new company intends to offer a portfolio of vehicles by 2004.

AK Steel, based in Middletown, Ohio is a major supplier of steel to the auto industry, with half its annual output going to manufacturing of cars and light trucks. The company said it has also spent several years developing a stainless steel space frame intended to reduce the frame weight of traditional automotive designs.

AK Steel has also developed stainless steel body panels, suspension parts, gas tanks and bumpers, it said. The founders of Build-to-Order include Scott Painter, founder and former chief executive officer of CarsDirect.com, an online car retailer, and William Li, a former Ford Motor Co. executive who founded and headed Model E Corp.

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