Bosch Rexroth to expand production center in Blaj, Romania, with EUR 100 mln investment

German producer Bosch plans to create its biggest industrial center in Europe at Blaj, in Romania, where it already runs two production units. Bosch Rexroth, part of the Bosch group, plans to open two new units at Blaj, with investments estimated at EUR 100 million until 2014, according to the Blaj mayor Gheorghe Rotar. The German producer will hire up to 400 more people from Blaj and the surrounding area, besides the existing 800 employees. The company will start working on the new unit in August this year. It will buy a 7-hectare plot in the city from the Blaj municipality, according to Gheorghe Rotar. Bosch has applied for state aid for this project, while the Blaj municipality has provided the infrastructure in the area, as well as set up a German kindergarden and a German school for the Bosch employees, according to Rotar. The Bosch investment in Blaj already brings a quarter of the revenues to the local budget, which stands at a total of EUR 4 million each year. The local budget will triple through the new investment, until 2014, according to the mayor. Bosch Rexroth opened the first production unit in Blaj in 2007, and the second, in 2009. Bosch Romania expects for this year a turnover increase of 7 percent, reaching a total sum of EUR 172 million, according to previous information. Last year, the company had a turnover of EUR 161 million, with 17 percent more than in 2009. It also plans to hire 300 more people in its Rexroth factory and its communications center in Timisoara. The group currently has 1,200 employees in Romania. Up to 60 percent of the turnover in Romania came from aftermarket parts and components supplied to vehicle manufacturers. Consumer goods and industrial equipments have accounted for 27 percent and 13 percent of the profit, respectively. The Bosch Group is present in Romania since 1994 and includes five companies: Robert Bosch SRL – distribution of equipment and spare parts, BSH Electrocasnice – import and distribution of household appliances, Bosch-Rexroth – manufactures electric machinery components, Bosch-Rexroth from Blaj – manufactures power tools and the Bosch Communication Center from Timisoara. Robert Bosch GmbH is a technology-based corporation which was founded in Stuttgart, Germany in 1886. The Bosch Group comprises more than 320 subsidiary companies. editor@romania-insider.com