Brose increases production capacity in Eastern Europe
Representatives of the state government and local authorities being informed about the efficiency of the new Brose plant at Kopřivnice/Ostrava during the official opening on 8 June 2005 (from l. to r.): Evžen Tošenovský (district commissioner of Moravia-Silesia), Michael Stoschek (President and CEO of the Brose corporate group), Michael Daniel (plant manager Kopřivnice), Petr Herman (plant manager Roznov), Martin Tlapa (Vice-minister of Industry and Trade) as well as Jiří Tichánek (Mayor of the town of Kopřivnice).
Brose CZ spol. s.r.o. produces manual and power seat adjusters as well as side door and tailgate latches for almost twenty vehicle brands and leading seat manufacturers. The products are destined for export to countries such as Belgium, Sweden, Italy and Germany. The main customers are Audi, BMW, Faurecia, DaimlerChrysler, Johnson Controls, Lear Corporation and Volvo. Working in cross-plant collaboration, the Czech production site also supplies the two Brose sister plants in Coburg and Wuppertal.
A leading edge production facility covering an area of more than 100,000 square meters was set up within ten months at Koprivnice not far from the Tatra plant. It is the first production facility outside Germany which, in addition to manual and automated assembly equipment, also has its own press and paint shops for the surface treatment of stamped parts. The Koprivnice plant currently has a headcount of 960.
“It is strategically important for us to increase our global manufacturing capacities even further and to extend our activities to Eastern Europe as well,” said Michael Stoschek, President and CEO of the Brose corporate group, during the official opening. Since July 2002, the Brose Group has also had a plant producing door systems for the VW Touareg and Porsche Cayenne SUVs at Bratislava/Slovakia.
“A major reason for setting up a plant in the Czech Republic was the competitively favorable economic environment as well as the exceptional support from the community and local authorities,” said Executive Vice-President Jürgen Otto. In future, the plant will also be competing internally against other Brose locations worldwide in order to maintain its competitive edge; the ever-increasing pricing pressure in the automotive supplier industry can be only be offset through competitive cost structures and constant process optimization.
In 2005, Brose CZ spol. s.r.o. is expected to achieve a turnover of 180 million euros. The company intends to further expand its business in coming years.
Brose is a partner of the international automotive industry, supplying products for more than 40 vehicle brands and leading seat producers.
Press contact:
Daniel Reinhardt
Telephone: +49 9561 21 2332
Telefax: +49 9561 21 1704
E-mail: daniel.reinhardt@brose.net
