(May 12, 2019) On May 11th, WITTE Automotive, the German member of VAST Automotive Group and one of the leading locking system manufacturers of the automotive sector, opened the expansion of its factory in Bulgaria with a ceremony together with high-ranking representatives from politics, business and Bulgarian institutions.
“WITTE Automotive Bulgaria has become a flagship factory of the entire group. In the last years, we have increasingly industrialized and localized orders here,” Rainer Gölz, managing director of the WITTE Group, explains in his speech. “And we have been so successful that we have been able to almost double the production area with this expansion!” Bulgaria’s Prime Minister, Bojko Borissow, along with numerous politicians, was also among the guests. He emphasized that WITTE Automotive is a significant employer in Bulgaria and sees the company playing a key role in his country’s future development. Currently 1000 employees work at the factory; thanks to the expansion, 350 additional jobs will be created over time.
Today, WITTE Automotive Bulgaria produces more than 7 million products per month which are then sent to more than 250 destinations and more than 70 individual customers in the whole world, such as VW, Audi, Ford, Daimler, BMW and Volvo. State-of-the-art assembly lines produce, among other things, tailgates and seat locks, lock sets, handles and, most recently, powered rear view cameras. In addition, the plant was made the group-wide center of competence for the production of the automatic tolerance compensation system WITOL. In 2018, WITTE Automotive Bulgaria achieved a turnover of more than EUR 100 million and set the target of doubling this figure within the next 5 years.
“All locations of the VAST Automotive Group will benefit from this important development. It will help us increase our competitiveness in the long term and expand the direct contact with our customers in Southeast Europe,” predicts Rainer Gölz. The German family enterprise with its headquarters in Velbert will celebrate its 120th anniversary this year. The automotive supplier started its production in Ruse in North Bulgaria 10 years ago.
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