MANN+HUMMEL has opened a new plant for cabin air filters in Himmelkron. “This will expand our production capacity and improve logistics”, explained Managing Directors, Dr. Michael Durst and Alexander Stein of the company.
About 300 employees who up to now worked at the Himmelkron and Gefrees locations of the filtration specialist will be employed in the new plant.
Cabin air filters are of strategic importance to the MANN+HUMMEL Group. Regardless of whether vehicles have a combustion engine or an alternative drive system, they are increasingly fitted with a cabin air filter. The worldwide production last year of about 75 million vehicles is set to increase to more than 100 million vehicles in 2017. Therefore there is a large potential for the development and production of cabin air filters.
Since the end of 2007 production in Gefrees has been part of the MANN+HUMMEL Group with its headquarters in Ludwigsburg. The team produces high quality cabin air filter elements for the automotive industry and automotive-related applications. Filters produced in Gefrees and Himmelkron are earmarked for OE production and the aftermarket of car and commercial vehicle manufacturers, as well as for being sold under the MANN-FILTER brand in the independent aftermarket.
The MANN+HUMMEL Group has on average since the mid-1990s enjoyed annual growth of around nine per cent and plans to increase turnover by 2018 to at least 3.4 billion euros. The newly opened cabin air filter center at Himmelkron will support this growth strategy. The group is accordingly investing in new technology, buildings and production lines to promote the planned growth. Investments in German locations alone amount to more than 25 million euros. Investment volume for the new cabin filter plant at Himmelkron is 17 million euros.
On May 11, MANN+HUMMEL inaugurated a new extension to its Sonneberg plant in Thuringia. Expansion of the plant at Marklkofen in Bavaria is underway.