Automotive supplier doubles capacity in Eastern Europe with new multi-million-pound factory

BIRMINGHAM-based automotive supplier, GKN Driveline, is set to begin production at its new €16.5m plant in Eastern Europe.

The company, a division of Redditch-based GKN, has already invested millions in its Polish operations and the new facility in Oleśnica, in the south west of the country, effectively doubles its footprint there.

Drive, a leading supplier to the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, said the new factory would help meet increasing demand in the region for more advanced sideshafts and propshafts.

The plant will supply driveline technologies to global vehicle platforms produced by Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen Group, Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, General Motors and Volvo, amongst others.

The new production facility is close to an existing GKN facility in Oleśnica, which produces Constant Velocity Joints. A new engineering facility employing around 50 engineers at the site will also provide testing and application engineering support for customer programmes.

Speaking at the plant’s opening ceremony, GKN Driveline chief executive Phil Swash said: “Poland is an important regional hub for the development and production of the essential driveline technologies that GKN supplies globally.

“The expansion of our footprint here reinforces our leading position in Europe and will enable GKN to keep pace with demand for technologies that help make drivelines lighter, smoother and more efficient.”

GKN originally established operations in Poland in 1996 and currently employs around 1,000 people. As production increases in Oleśnica, employment is expected to reach 1,400 over the next three to four years.

Future plans for the development of the site include the addition of new forging capacity. When fully operational, the plant will have capacity to produce over 10 million sideshafts a year and one million propshafts.

Oleśnica plant director Mariusz Karolewski said: “This expansion of our operations in Poland demonstrates strong demand for the innovation and quality that GKN brings to essential driveline technologies.

“With automakers expanding in Eastern Europe, this new facility provides additional local supply and technical support, and shows Poland’s automotive sector going from strength to strength.”

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