Bosch starts work on auto component plant
08-SEP-2008 Intellasia | Saigon Times Daily page 2
Sep 8, 2008 - 7:00:00 AM
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Germany-based Bosch Group on Friday started work on its first project in Vietnam to manufacture push-belts for vehicles in southern Dong Nai Province, according to Bosch Vietnam Company.
The factory covering 16 hectares at Long Thanh Industrial Park will manufacture push-belts for continuously variable transmission (CVT) that can be fitted into the engines of vehicles ranging from sub-compact cars to sports utility vehicles.
CVT technology is known to enable automobile engines to run at efficient speed range, increase fuel efficiency and in turn, and emit less carbon dioxide. It increases fuel efficiency by up to 15% and in turn, it will lower the emission levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) by up to 10%, says the company. '
Work on this production facility will expectedly be completed by October 2009. During its first year of operation, the plant will produce up to 380,000 push-belts, and this output will increase to an annual 2.3 million units by 2015, all for export to automakers in the Asia-Pacific region.
By 2015, the group's total investment in Vietnam for the factory can reach 55 million euro, according to the company.
Bosch first announced its plans to build the CVT belt plant during the official opening of its subsidiary Robert Bosch Vietnam Co Ltd in HCM City in April. Ever since, the company has begun the assembly of CVT push-belts at a temporary production facility nearby in the Long Thanh Industrial Zone.
With the project, Bosch Group has chosen Vietnam as the second production base for its push-belts, after the group's first plant named Bosch-Van Doorne's Transmissie in Tilburg in the Netherlands.
"We believe that this investment will deepen our roots and strengthen our operations in Vietnam... Vietnam will become part of Bosch's global manufacturing network in this region," Cern Peksaglam, president and managing director of Robert Bosch (SEA) Pte Ltd, said in a statement.
The group has maintained two representative offices in Vietnam in the past 14 years.
Previously, Vo QuangHue, managing director of RobertBosch Vietnam Co., said that in the first year of operations, the group would invest 10 million euro in the factory and would increase the amount gradually to reach 55 million euro by 2015.
"The products will be hi-tech, so Bosch will train staff in overseas facilities and transfer technologies from Germany," he said.
Bosch Group, present in Vietnam since.1994, has marketed various technology products in the country including power tools, security systems, industrial and factory automation components and systems and packaging technology.
Last year the company achieved sales of 6 million euro in Vietnam, up 20% from the previous year. With the opening, it wants to continue on this growth path.
The investment in Vietnam is part of Bosch Group's plan to invest 1.4 billion euro in Asia Pacific from 2008 to 2010.
The Asia Pacific region is a major growth driver for Bosch business. Last year, Bosch sales here rose by 15% in local currencies.
Bosch targets to nearly triple its sales in Asia Pacific by 20 15 to a level that will be the equivalent to one-quarter of the group's total business volume in that year.
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