HANOVER, Germany—Contitech A.G. has officially inaugurated its hose factory in Subotica, Serbia.
The company said it invested more than $131 million in the plant, which took just nine months to complete. About 150 work at the site, and the company said that number should climb to 250 by the end of 2013.
The facility, certified to all required quality standards, boosts the production capacity of hose line specialist ContiTech Fluid Technology, a ContiTech business group. The plant assembles hose lines for the powertrain and supplies them to European auto makers. A total of 1.8 million units, broken down into 80 different parts, are made annually.
"Subotica offers an excellent logistical hookup to our customers," said Matthias Schonberg, head of the ContiTech Fluid Technology business group. "Further advantages are a local labor market that offers just what we need and close proximity to sister plants in Szeged, Hungary, and Timisoara, Romania."
The company said the factory sits on land that will accommodate future expansion in the Mali Bajmok industrial park.