Continental expands electronic production in Russia

"Our aim is to be the leading international supplier of electronics in this vehicle market", said José Avila, head of the Powertrain Division and member of the Continental AG Executive Board. This is why Continental is investing in the expansion of its production facilities at the Kaluga automotive production site which will largely produce engine control units but will also manufacture components for use in fuel supply and injection systems. The local company, which has so far traded under the name of 'AVTEL', will be renamed Continental Automotive Systems Rus. on July 5, 2011. New production line for engine electronics Continental will invest more than EUR 6 million in the construction of a new production line in the existing Kaluga electronics plant. The aim is that this should expand production capacity to at least one million engine control units annually. Therefore an investment agreement was signed today with the governor of the Kaluga region. More than 120 highly-skilled jobs will be created in Kaluga. "There is an increasing demand in the emerging markets for high-performance and economical electronically controlled engine systems. Tighter emissions requirements are partly behind this increased demand. At the heart of the technology which we will be producing at the site in future is our innovative 32-bit Easy-U engine control unit", said Gerhard Böhm, head of the Engine Systems Business Unit in Continental's Powertrain Division.