http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cg...00836
GETRAG/Dana and Volvo Cars to form joint venture in Koping
Koping-Goteborg, Schweden and Untergruppenbach, Deutschland, April 11 /PRNewswire/ --
- From manual transmissions to modern all-wheel drive (AWD)
GETRAG Getriebe- und Zahnradfabrik Hermann Hagenmeyer GmbH & Cie KG of Untergruppenbach, Germany (GETRAG) announced today that it will join forces with Dana Corporation (NYSE: DCN) of Toledo, Ohio (Dana), and Volvo Car Company (VCC) to establish an "All-Wheel-Drive (AWD) Center of Excellence" in a joint venture in Koping, Sweden, specialised in AWD and Chassis Systems for cars and sport utility vehicles.
The new entity is expected to begin operating during the second half of 2003. A joint venture between GETRAG and Dana will own 60 per cent and Volvo Car Corporation the remaining 40 per cent.
According to the mutually agreed upon business plan, the new entity expects to install capacity for initially up to 750,000 power take off units (PTUs) and axle differential assemblies. The new entity in Koping will act as a fully independent supplier, strategically integrated within the GETRAG-Group, and will market its services, on a global basis, to Ford Motor Company, including all its affiliates as well as to all other car manufacturers within Europe.
"Together with Volvo and based upon an agreed upon investment plan, we will transform Koping into the leading full service supplier in the European AWD market place," says Tobias Hagenmeyer, CEO of the GETRAG Corporate Group.
He adds, "This technology will be of utmost importance for the fast growing 'crossover vehicle' market segment, which we already successfully introduced with two major OEMs in the United States through our affiliate GETRAG Corporation in Newton, N.C., and Sterling Heights, Mich., where we are in the process of launching three additional major programs."
The chassis systems, presently manufactured and assembled in the Koping plant for Volvo Cars, will be transferred to the new entity and the entity intends to actively pursue new business from other OEMs.
At the present time the plant in Koping also supplies approximately 150,000 manual transmissions annually to Volvo Cars. Toward the end of 2004, Volvo Cars' production of manual transmissions will be transferred to GETRAG FORD Transmissions in Cologne, Germany, which is a 50:50 joint venture between Ford and GETRAG. It was founded on February 1, 2001 and specialises in the development and production of manual and auto-shift manual transmissions. GETRAG FORD Transmissions is based in Cologne and has production sites in Cologne; Bordeaux, France; and Halewood, UK
"The operations in Koping will be streamlined to create a fully integrated self-sufficient AWD Center of Excellence, including RD&E, sales and marketing, purchasing and production of AWD components and assemblies," says Curt Germundsson, Production Director of Volvo Cars.
GETRAG, which is privately owned, is headquartered in Untergruppenbach, Germany and was founded in 1935 by Hermann Hagenmeyer. GETRAG is now located at 16 sites around the world (Germany, Italy, France, UK, United States, India and Japan) and produces manual transmissions for passenger cars, SUVs, vans, motorcycles and light trucks and automated manual transmissions (ASG(R)) for the automotive industry. The company's revenues reached 1.9 billion Euros in 2002 and it employs approximately 9,000 employees.
Volvo Cars in Koping produces, in addition to the above-mentioned manual transmissions, chassis components for the rear-wheel and front-wheel drive units, spring struts and around 100,000 rear axle differential assemblies and PTUs.
Dana Corporation is a publicly traded company on the NYSE (Symbol: DCN) and a global leader in the design, engineering, and manufacture of value-added products and systems for automotive, commercial, and off-highway vehicle manufacturers and their related aftermarkets. The company employs more than 60,000 people worldwide. Founded in 1904 and based in Toledo, Ohio, Dana operates hundreds of technology, manufacturing, and customer service facilities in 30 countries. The company reported sales of US$9.5 billion in 2002.
Distributed by PR Newswire on behalf of GETRAG
Seems volvo might want to move its transmission factory back in house once Ford sells......
