Continental expands its presence in Europe and builds first plant in Lithuania

“Building the first Continental plant in Lithuania is an important part of our growth strategy in Europe. With this, we are continuing to expand our electronics production and European presence in order to be able to better satisfy our customers’ growing demand for electronic components,” said Dr. Hans-Jürgen Braun, Head of 28 Central Electronic Plants worldwide at Continental.

“As a modern industrial region with an excellent infrastructure and highly qualified workforce, Kaunas is the ideal location for us. We are delighted about the fact that we will have a plant in Lithuania for the first time ever,” said Shayan Ali, future Managing Director of Continental in Lithuania, and added: “Thanks to support from the Lithuanian government, we are planning to have completed construction by the middle of 2019 and be able to start production.”

Products of Continental’s Body & Security and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems business units are to be manufactured on a production site of initially 16,000 square meters. This includes door and seat control units, gateways and intelligent glass control units as well as radar sensors for comfort functions such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and safety functions such as Emergency Brake Assist (EBA).

“Continental is bringing the biggest greenfield investment project in Lithuanian history,” comments Lithuania’s Prime Minister, Saulius Skvernelis. “Its decision to establish a manufacturing unit in Lithuania will have a tremendously positive impact on this industry in Lithuania. I can guarantee you that the Lithuanian government will assist the company in every way it can to ensure that operations accelerate smoothly and that local talent will embrace the opportunity to contribute to the production of innovative products that meet the highest standards of German production,” Mr Skvernelis continues.

“Major car manufacturers organise the logistics of automotive components by themselves from logistical points located close to the factories for the final car setup. However, there are still not enough manufacturers of automotive components in Lithuania that car manufacturers can agree on organising such logistics. For a long time, this has been a limitation for the attraction of foreign automotive companies to settle down in Lithuania. Continental’s decision to set up in Lithuania may be the key breakthrough that will cause not only car manufacturers but also other major participants of the supply chain to pay close attention to Lithuania,” stated Mantas Katinas, Managing Director of the foreign investment development agency Invest Lithuania.

In 2016, Continental generated sales of €40.5 billion. Currently, the company employs more than 227,000 people in 56 countries worldwide. One of the core businesses of the company is information management solutions related to car interior systems and exterior environment elements, which are now planned for production in Lithuania for the first time.