Haas Automation Headquarters

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

For fans, the Oxnard headquarters represents the industrial heart of the Haas F1 operation. It's where Gene Haas built his machine tool empire from a single rotary table company in 1983 into one of the world's largest CNC builders by unit volume. The facility sits on 86 acres in Oxnard, a purpose-built campus that replaced earlier locations in Sun Valley and Chatsworth. This is where the company's core business—designing and manufacturing vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers, lathes, and rotary tables—takes place. The connection to F1 is direct: Haas Automation's success in the machine tool industry provides the financial foundation for the Haas F1 Team, making Oxnard the economic engine behind the racing operation.

In Their Own Story

In 1997, Gene Haas moved his growing company to a purpose-built facility on 86 acres in Oxnard, California, after becoming frustrated with local government and building permit processes in Chatsworth. The fluorescent lights now illuminate rows of CNC machines being assembled for customers worldwide. This facility, not a racetrack or grandstand, is where the company's reputation for lower-cost, high-volume machine tools was forged. It's also where the financial resources that fund the Haas F1 Team originate—every VF series mill or rotary table shipped from Oxnard contributes to the team's ability to compete on the global stage.

Reader's Guide

The Haas Automation headquarters in Oxnard is not a public venue like a grandstand or museum. It is an active manufacturing facility where the company designs and builds its CNC machine tools. For supporters, the location holds cultural significance as the birthplace of the Haas F1 Team's financial backing. It represents the American manufacturing roots that Gene Haas established when he founded the company in 1983. The facility's 86-acre campus is the center of Haas Automation's global operations, where most products are manufactured before being distributed through a network of independently owned franchised local 'factory outlet' businesses introduced in 1999. Visiting fans typically experience this location through digital channels or official merchandise, understanding that every machine tool built here contributes to the team's ability to compete against larger budgets in Formula One.

Did You Know?

• Gene Haas founded the company in 1983 in Sun Valley, California, to manufacture machine tool accessory tooling and rotary tables.
• The VF in VF-1 stands for 'Very First One'—the first machine Haas produced.
• Haas moved to a purpose-built facility on 86 acres in Oxnard in 1997 after being dissatisfied with local government in Chatsworth.
• In 2019, Haas purchased 279 acres of land in Henderson, Nevada, for $27.4 million to build a $327 million manufacturing facility.
• Haas was fined $1.04 million by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in January 2025 for sanctions violations related to Russia.

Foundations and Strategic Structure

Gene Haas founded Haas Automation in 1983 in Sun Valley, California, to manufacture machine tool accessory tooling and rotary tables. The company entered the machine tool industry with the first fully automatic, programmable collet indexer. Over the next four years, the company expanded its product line to include fully programmable rotary tables, rotary indexers, and other machine tool accessories. In 1987, Haas Automation began developing its first vertical machining center (VMC), the VF-1, a machine designed to perform operations such as milling, drilling, tapping, and boring. The first VF-1 prototypes were completed in 1988, and introduced at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS '88) in Chicago, Illinois. The company moved to larger facilities in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, in 1991, but Haas was dissatisfied with the local government and the building permit process. In 1997, Haas moved to a purpose-built facility on 86 acres in Oxnard. In 2019, Haas purchased 279 acres of land in Henderson, Nevada, for $27.4 million to expand its business, planning to build 4.3 million square feet of commercial space with 2.3 million square feet intended for a $327 million manufacturing facility.

Breakthrough Debut and Early Struggles

During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Haas Automation was accused by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine in March 2023 of violating United States sanctions by supplying the Russian arms industry with CNC machines via Abamet Management, which distributes parts in Russia and Belarus and with whom Haas severed ties in March 2022. The company denied the allegations and asserted it had departed Russia prior to the invasion, while remaining Haas equipment were taken over by an independent distributor. In August, a follow-up investigation by the ESCU suggested Haas was still indirectly providing resources to the Russian military through Suzhou Sup Bestech Machine Tools Co, a Chinese liaison that was founded two weeks after Haas formally ended operations in Russia. Haas was fined $1.04 million by the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control in January 2025 for '21 apparent violations of sanctions related to the defense and energy sectors of the Russian Federation economy.'

Peak Performance and Technical Controversy

Haas Automation manufactures several lines of CNC machine tools for the metalworking industry. The company's VF Series mills are a range of 3-axis vertical machining centers, which can be outfitted with 4th and 5th axis drives if so configured. These mills are available in different sizes, ranging from VF-1 to VF-14. The VF in the name stands for 'Very First' as the first machine Haas produced was the VF-1 ('Very First One'). One of these machines was restored by an employee, gifted to Gene Haas, and now resides in Haas's demo room in Oxnard, CA. Haas universal machining centers (known as UMC) are 5-axis bridge-type vertical machines, first introduced in 2015. The mini mill was introduced as a small footprint alternative to the VF series mills. The TM series was first introduced as essentially a 'CNC-capable toolroom mill.' The Haas DT series was originally introduced as a 30 taper high-speed machine. The CM is focused on machining small parts where high accuracy is required. Gantry Series mills feature a static bed, a bridge that moves along the Y axis, and a head that moves along the X axis. VM Series machines feature a grid-style table capable of handling more weight than a comparable VF machine. VR Series machines are based on the VF series, but include a special head to allow A and B axis capabilities. VMT (Vertical Mill Turn) series mills feature an HSK-T/A63 spindle and are capable of performing both milling and turning operations. The VC-400 machine is a pallet-changing vertical mill, based on the design of the EC-400 horizontal mill with a 90 degree head.

Sponsorship Turmoil and Operational Challenges

Haas Automation is an ISO 9001 certified company. All machine tools carry the ETL Listed mark, certifying that they conform to the NFPA 79 electrical standard for industrial machinery and the Canadian equivalent, CAN/CSA C22.2 No. 73. The company is also entitled to affix the CE mark to its products. The HAAS Certification Program was created to provide basic fundamental knowledge required to start CNC machining. It is a two part program for both Mills and Lathes. The first part of the program is an online portion consisting of both videos and quizzes. The mill exam consists of sixteen learning videos and quizzes over the course of eleven chapters. After taking the mill and or lathe exam the user would be able to register for a practical in-person exam. This exam tests the user on everything covered in the online portion and sees how the user can perform hands on. The practical exam may cost a nominal fee at the testing facilities discretion. Usually a fee of around one-hundred and fifty dollars is charged. Once the user passes both the online, and practical exam the user will be HAAS certified. Products are distributed worldwide through a network of independently owned franchised local 'factory outlet' businesses that provide sales, service, and applications support for Haas machine tools. Introduced in 1999, with the first outlet established in Torrance, California, it was applied to the company's existing worldwide network, and then expanded to Europe.