The company, which employs 900 people at its two plants in Coventry, is installing a state-of-the-art paint shop that will be able to e-coat more than 3.5 million car seats every year. The announcement was made during a visit to the site by Brose group CEO Jürgen Otto and board member Periklis Nassios, who is responsible for the company’s seats division.
The new line, which is due to be completed by August 2017, brings the paint process in-house, and will help improve scheduling of production to ensure all structures are finished to the highest quality standards. The investment will create an extra 30 jobs, meaning the number of people employed by Brose UK will have jumped from around 500 in late 2014 to over 1000 by the end of next year.
Brose UK sales have increased by 25% in the past 12 months, and now sit at £195m. The company has received new contracts to supply seats and window regulators to customers including Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and Toyota. The company has invested over £50m into its UK operation in the past three years alone.
Juergen Zahl, managing director called the investment a “massive show of faith in Coventry”, adding that “having the paint shop in-house means we control our own destiny and can have a much more joined-up approach to assembly. 2017 will see the launch of three new model platforms and will take the number of front and rear seats we produce annually to over two million for the first time in our 30-year history.”
“Coventry is very special to the Group, as it was one of the first locations to be launched outside of Germany almost 30 years ago,” said Mr Otto. “I am delighted to see how passionate everyone is about working at Brose and their desire to continually improve. This investment in Coventry is part of the long-term strategy we pursue as a family company.”
