Mannheim (Germany), April 4, 2007 – The Röchling-Group continues to extend its position in the Asian market. Röchling Automotive Asia has opened two new production facilities in China that have already been awarded large contracts by well-known automobile manufacturers. In 2006 China manufactured 6.8 million automobiles, taking over from Germany as the world’s third-largest carmaker. ”Asia is and will remain a gigantic growth market in which we will continue to grow“, said Georg Duffner, the Röchling Group’s Management Board Chairman. He added that since Asian activities began six years ago, around EUR 17 million had been invested in the Group’s High-Performance Plastics and Automotive Plastics divisions.
Röchling has now acquired all the shares in two joint ventures. In Changchun in north China’s Jilin province the newly founded Röchling Automotive Parts Changchun Co. Ltd. has started making plastic parts for the automotive industry. For Siemens VDO a 1.0-liter intake manifold is being manufactured for Mitsubishi Japan that is assembled by Mitsubishi for delivery to Smart in France. For BMW Brilliance production of the entire body undershield for the BMW 5 Series is due to start in Changchun in June 2007. Röchling Automotive has also been awarded the contract to manufacture the entire body undershield for the BMW 3 Series.
In Suzhou, 80 kilometers north of Shanghai, the Röchling Group has founded a new company, Röchling Automotive Parts Suzhou Co. Ltd., that started production on April 1, 2007. It is manufacturing oil and expansion tanks for power-assisted steering for Ford. In addition, Ford has commissioned the company with the production of windshield cowls for the Ford Focus and the Ford Mondeo.
The Röchling Group has six plants in Asia – Changchun, twice in Suzhou, Kunshan, Shanghai and Singapore. Nearly 400 employees generate revenues totaling around EUR 60 million.
The Röchling Group is a worldwide operating plastics group based in Mannheim, Germany. With 6,000 employees at 54 locations in 17 countries, Röchling is today one of the leading international plastics processing enterprises. With its High-Performance Plastics and Automotive Plastics divisions, the Group’s 2005 sales totaled over EUR 1 billion in Europe, America and Asia.
