The German corporation Bosch inaugurated Saturday at Blaj a new unit for the production of auto parts, an investment, amounting to nearly EUR 50 million. The new production unit will create about 300 new jobs by the end of the year, according to Mediafax .
The new production unit, the third in the city of Blaj, was inaugurated on Saturday, the event being attended by the representatives of the German corporation in Romania, the local administration of Blaj, and the county government representatives, led by Alba County Council, Ion Dumitrel .
According to Bosch representatives, the factory in Blaj has expanded significantly while the services and investments in machinery production totaled EUR 50 million.
"Starting with June 2013, the factory in Blaj will manufacture engine speed sensors for chassis control systems used in the car industry. The purpose of these sensors is to transmit to the electronic system on the car’s dashboard, for example, data about the wheel speed rotation, essential information ensuring the proper operation of support systems such as ABS and ESP ", the press release issued Saturday by Bosch reads.
The new production facility has an area of 21,000 square meters . Here 300 new jobs will be created the number of employees at Bosch Blaj will reach 900 by the end of 2013.
There were several state officials attending the inauguration of the new Bosch investment in Blaj, among them the minister delegate for Infrastructure projects, Dan Sova and the Ambassador of Germany to Bucharest, Andreas von Mettenheim.
Dan Şova stated that the new production unit inaugurated by Bosh is an important investment both for Blaj and for Romania alike.
"It is a very important investment, it will create over 300 new employment opportunities in an area of 50,000 square meters and an investment of about EUR 50 million. I believe that given the volume of sales of Bosch Romania in 2012 amounting to EUR 180 million, the fact that it will make this year an investment of EUR 120 million overall, 50 (Million) in Blaj and 70 and some million in Cluj unit , to be opened in the fourth quarter creating another 300 jobs, the fact that Bosh, in early 2013, had 1,400 employees in Romania and will have 2,000 employees is a good thing. I am glad that after Daimler’s investment in Sebes, the Star Transmission, another German investor is expanding its production capacity in Romania" Sova said.
The minister added that these German investors coming to Romania send out an important signal for the country and increase Romania’s contribution to the European auto industry.
Currently, the German corporation Bosch owns in Blaj two other production units employing about 570 people. The Drive and Control Division of Bosch, known as Bosch Rexroth, has manufacture here so far linear technology currently used in mechanical engineering.
The Germans from Bosch will open in Cluj-Napoca a new production facility for the manufacture and development of automotive electronic control units. By the end of 2013, investments of over EUR 77 million are planned to be made. Bosch will build a production facility with a total area of about 38,000 square meters. The factory in Cluj-Napoca will likely employ by the end of the year another 300 employees in production and development. Over half of these have already been contracted , currently undergoing a training internship in one of Bosch centers outside the country.
In 2012, the Bosch Group worldwide sales grew by 1.9 percent reaching EUR 52.5 billion in turnover. The income before taxes amounted to EUR 2.8 billion. According to the company’s representatives, in the previous year, the number of Bosch employees increased slightly, by 3,400 people , therefore Bosch currently employs 305 900 people.
The Bosch Group allocated in 2012 about eight billion for investments: EUR 4.8 billion for research and development and EUR 3.2 billion for investments in fixed assets.
Bosch expects an increase of two to four percent of its sales volume for this year.