Grammer AG is stepping up its activities in the world’s second-largest automotive market by establishing two new plants there. The leading supplier of interior components for premium car manufacturers and seating systems for commercial vehicles is about to inaugurate a new 24,000-square-meter plant in Changchun, China. In addition a “front-end” plant in Beijing has been already set-up earlier.
The new plant in Changchun unites the activities of three previously separate production facilities at a single location. This step will allow Grammer to benefit from optimized production flows and a sophisticated integrated manufacturing structure. At the new plant, 850 employees will make car interiors for both premium German manufacturers in China and local car producers. The new front-end plant in Beijing performs final assembly and sequencing of new center consoles projects for a premium German car maker in China. By the time it is fully implemented in 2014, it will have around 100 employees.
“Our investments and the new plants in China help us to grow locally with our customers,” said Hartmut Müller, CEO of Grammer AG. “At the same time, we are systematically strengthening our global presence in order to become more independent of regional market fluctuations.”
Grammer’s already good international positioning enabled the company to compensate the declines in some of its core markets in 2012 and set a new overall revenue record of 1.14 billion euros.
Now the Grammer Group is additionally ramping up its activities in China as part of its global growth strategy. The offensive also reflects the Chinese market’s growing importance for the globally active enterprise. China accounts for more than 10 percent of Group revenues, making it the second-most important country for the Grammer Group, after Germany.
Grammer is now represented at five locations in China. Its Automotive division has operations in Changchun, Beijing, and Shanghai, where Grammer also has an R&D center, and its Seating Systems division operates a plant in Tianjin. In addition, Grammer produces truck seats for the local market in Jiangyin within the scope of a German-Chinese joint venture (Grammer Seating Jiangsu).