Leoni has officially opened its fourth wiring systems plant in China, this one supplying Beijing Benz Automotive, the joint venture between Daimler and BAIC.
Within four years, Leoni will double its local wiring systems turnover to EUR400m. It said expansion of Chinese activities is the most important driver of its globalisation which is key to long term growth and “regionally balanced business”.
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Leoni is spending EUR30m on buildings and equipment at the new factory which was built in only nine months and is currently ramping up production for Beijing Benz’s new Mercedes C class.
Leoni later will also produce wiring systems for the GLA and GLK. The plant in Langfang has a production area of around 20,000 sq m and will employ about 2,500 people at full capacity.
It will process about 3m metres of various automotive cables and 1.5m connectors plus thousands of other components a day, combining them into complete wiring systems. Each product can weigh up to 35kg and will be shipped just in sequence to the Mercedes factory.
The new plant in Langfang is the fourth Chinese Leoni location after Shanghai, Jining and Penglai which now employ over 6,000 staff. All plants produce harnesses and wiring systems for passenger and commercial vehicles, supplying mainly automakers based in Europe and America.
Leoni also operates six additional plants in Changzhou and Xiamen with about 2,500 employees in its sister organisation Wire & Cable Solutions (WCS), developing and producing wires & strands, optical fibres, special cables and cable solutions for general industry, medical, household appliances, photovoltaic and automotive. In 2012, WCS sales in China were about EUR200m.
In total, Leoni Group now operates 10 plants in China with more than 8,500 employees, and expects local consolidated sales of about EUR450m in 2013. Since 2012, China has been the supplier’s second biggest market after its German home territory.
