Benecke-Kaliko expands in N America

ERJ staff report (DS)

Detroit, Michigan -- Benecke-Kaliko,Continental's automotive interior sheeting unit, is expanding its market presence in North America. The company sid it intends to greatly increase its market share in the area of high-quality interior materials for the automotive industry. “A high-quality interior yields much greater acceptance among car buyers,” notes Dr. Dirk Leiß, CEO of Benecke-Kaliko AG, a company of the ContiTech group, at a press conference in Detroit. “Hard plastic will no longer be considered as a solution for mid-size, upper mid-size and high-end segments in the future. We want to convince American automakers that this is so.”

Leiß said, “The company does not feel that it can profitably do business in America working out of a production plant in Europe or Asia. That is why we invested in Mexico.”

Benecke-Kaliko has expanded its research and development as well as its sales activities in Detroit, where the parent company, Continental AG, is also based. Additionally, a new production plant is currently under construction in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. Starting in 2009, unsupported and supported expanded vinyl as well as TPO compact and expanded sheeting will be manufactured there for the North and Central American markets. Eventually the plant will also supply the South American market. A sales volume of three million square meters of TPO and 10 million square meters of PVC sheeting will be manufactured in the start-up phase.

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Press release from Benecke-Kaliko