German automotive OEM Boge Rubber & Plastics (Damme; www.boge-rubber-plastics.com) has integrated the automotive business unit of its owner Zhuzhou Times New Material Technology (TMT, Zhuzhou, Hunan / China; www.trp.com.cn). As a result, the company has gained a second plant in China. Located in Zhuzhou, Hunan, Boge Rubber & Plastics Zhuzhou has a workforce of about 200 employees, specialised in the production of automotive components for vibration control technology and acoustic insulation for commercial vehicles and buses. The facility posted sales of about EUR 29m in 2016.

The plant is Boge’s second in China, joining the one it opened in Qingpu, near Shanghai, in 2008. In addition to significantly increasing the company’s market share in China – especially in the fields of vibration control technology and plastics solutions for the automotive industry – the new plant will “give us direct access to local Chinese vehicle manufacturers,” said company CEO Torsten Bremer. It will also add acoustic absorption materials to Boge’s portfolio.

The decision to assign the Zhuzhou plant to Boge is part of TMT’s internal restructuring. In future, the Chinese group’s entire automotive slate will be handled by its German subsidiary, while the parent company will instead focus on products for vibration control technology and composites for rail vehicles as well as other non-automotive industries, including wind energy.

Boge operates 10 production plants in seven different countries. That figure will rise to 11 by the middle of this year, once the company starts up its new plant in San Luis Potosí / Mexico (see Plasteurope.com of 20.12.2016).