Western RO: Continental to close Nădab plant, transfer operations to Carei

German automotive parts supplier Continental will close its induction systems factory in Nădab, in Arad county, and transfer the activities to its heating/cooling rubber hoses unit in Carei, in Satu-Mare, Profit.ro reported.

The operational transfer from Nădab to Carei will be made gradually, until mid-2022, according to an announcement from the company.

More than 300 employees of the Nădab plant are impacted by the transfer. They will be offered the option to relocate from Nădab to Carei, while a small part of the team will be relocated to Timișoara, the company said.

The company will offer a compensation package in accordance with local legislative requirements to the employees who do not wish to transfer.

The activity of the other Continental locations in Romania will not be impacted by the decision concerning the Nădab plant.

The transfer of operations to Carei comes as the volumes for the air induction systems and the heating/cooling systems are declining because of the transfer to electric vehicles, the company said.

For the coming years, the company plans to “continue developing the local organization by consolidating and increasing the activity of the Carei plant as a main location of the tire and assembly operations, where automotive hoses that help lower emissions and support the management of thermal solutions for passenger and commercial vehicles are manufactured. At the same time, the ContiTech unit in Timișoara will play an important part in the air conditioning hoses manufacturing and assembly operations.”

The unit in Nădab manufactures curved, straight and convoluted air induction hoses. It has an output of approximately 13 million products per year for passenger cars and hybrid and commercial vehicles. The plant in Carei manufactures heating/cooling rubber hoses and air induction hoses, with a yearly output of approximately 27 million parts for passenger and commercial vehicles.

Continental has seven production units and four engineering centers in Timişoara, Sibiu, Carei, Nădab, Brașov and Iaşi. The company is a partner in a joint venture in Iași and has a tire distribution center in Bucharest. At the end of 2020, it had more than 20,100 employees.