ContiTech trebles floor space of Chinese plant

Changchun, China - ContiTech's Chinese subsidiary, ContiTech Grand Ocean Fluid Co., Ltd, has brought its expanded automotive and industrial hose systems plant into operation as part of its long-term growth strategy. ContiTech Grand Ocean Fluid was founded in Changchun in 2002 as a joint

venture between ContiTech and the Chinese companies Grand Ocean

Industries and FAW-VW (First Automotive Works-VW).

The plant represents an investment of about Euro3 million, Conti said, andwill produce air-conditioning lines for the automotive industry in 2011, or a good third more than in the present year. The plant will also produce over a million hose lines for

power steering, fuel feed systems, exhaust gas management and

industrial lines, Conti added.

The plant has three times the floor space of the site's previous factory, which will now no longer be used. This gives ContiTech around 13 000 m2 in production space, up from 4000 m2 in the past. The number of employees is to rise from 480 at present to 550 in 2011, the German firm continued.

"The Asian automotive market is growing rapidly, which is why we have invested in a new plant. It further strengthens our standing in China," said Heinz-Gerhard Wente, CEO of ContiTech AG, at the 28 Oct inauguration of the plant. "Our customers are equally local and international automakers and systems manufacturers."

Starting in 2011, lines for turbocharger lubrication, turbocharger

cooling and transmission oil cooling will also be manufactured at the

location, Conti said, adding that Changchun is regarded as the cradle of the Chinese automotive industry. In the spring of 2010 ContiTech had already put a new plant into operation in Changshu, near Shanghai. Asia is a focal point region in the ContiTech strategy.

Describing the favourable order situation, Günter Frölich, general manager of Fluid Technology, notes: "Next year five new projects will be going into volume production in this segment alone. In doing this we aim to up our local value-added potential and to expand the range of products manufactured at the Changchun plant."

For the most part, the lines from ContiTech will be manufactured in their entirety locally. What is more, the plant takes and further processes hoses from other ContiTech plants in Germany and Changshu in southern China.

ContiTech Grand Ocean's main customers are VW, Daimler and BMW and domestic car makers in the automotive sector and Jungheinrich, Linde and Atlas Copco in the industrial sector, Conti's statement concluded.