Continental has announced the opening of its second plant in Wuhu – Continental Automotive Interior (Wuhu) – a new addition to its current manufacturing facility in Anhui province, China.
Government officials and Continental’s senior executives attended the new plant’s official opening ceremony. With an initial investment of EUR33m (US$41.27m) for land and building, the new plant will be fully operational in the first quarter of 2015, and play a significant role in meeting the increasing demand from both local and global markets, Conti says.
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Dr. Ralf Cramer, member of the executive board of Continental, president and CEO of Continental China said, “The new plant is our twenty second manufacturing location in China, which is a vital part of our growth strategy that reflects our goal to be ‘in the market for the market.’ Our investment in this new plant is a decisive step that not only strengthens our business in China but also demonstrates our strong confidence in and commitment to our local customers and business partners.”
“We are excited about continually expanding our investment in the Chinese market, and confident in achieving significant growth here,” said Eelco Spoelder, executive vice president and head of instrumentation and driver HMI business unit of Continental. “The new plant will accelerate our development to a higher level by introducing new technologies and enhancing our product portfolio, which will streamline the manufacturing process, improve quality and react faster to the market requirements.”
The new plant is located in the Wuhu Economy and Technology Development Zone, a distance of 10 kilometres from the existing plant. The new facility with a total land of 120,000 square meters and an initial floor space of 46,000 square meters will include production operations, R&D centre, laboratory and warehousing, which will focus on the business of instrumentation and Driver HMI (Human Machine Interface). By end of 2015, around 1,500 employees will be working in the new plant including around 215 R&D engineers. Further, 42 production lines in total will be installed by end of 2015.
“Thanks to the support from the Wuhu government, the construction of the second plant has been completed within just around 12 months. The technical facilities are excellent and in addition to production, the new site also covers a research and development facility. Leveraging our global know-how, it will definitely enhance our local R&D capabilities for our local and global customers. The new plant also underlines our efforts to explore the booming Chinese market for sustainable growth in the future,” said David Revill, plant manager of Continental Automotive Wuhu.
