ContiTech opens first hose production plant in Russia

HANOVER, Germany—ContiTech A.G. has expanded its manufacturing presence in Russia with the addition of a new hose factory in Kaluga.

Located about 200 kilometers southwest of Moscow, the factory spans more than 43,000 square feet and presently employs about 90. That figure is expected to grow to 160 by 2015. ContiTech invested about $23.2 million to build the plant.

Construction of the facility and an adjacent administrative building was completed at the end of January, a company spokesman said. New machinery at the site was tested in February, he said, and in March the firm began manufacturing and delivering its first products. The factory is now fully operational and was dedicated in late June.

It is ContiTech's first hose production plant in Russia, the spokesman said. The facility produces hose lines for automobile air conditioning and power steering systems.

“Kaluga is part of our strategy to continue positioning ContiTech internationally and be close to our customers,” Heinz-Gerhard Wente, a member of parent Continental A.G.'s executive board and head of ContiTech, said at the June opening ceremony.

He said that the site is an investment in the future “given that the Russian automotive market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Its importance for Europe continues to grow. We want to help shape this future and participate in this growth.”

The Hanover-headquartered company is currently making hose lines for Lada, Renault and Nissan vehicles at the factory. The number should total around 1 million hose lines in 2014, the company said, and in the medium term that number is expected to double.

ContiTech has operated a sales office in Moscow since 2002.

Continental A.G., ContiTech's parent, also opened a new automotive plant in Kaluga that was inaugurated in June. It makes engine control units, fuel supply products and components for injection systems. The firm's tire division opened a tire plant in the city in the fall of 2013.