UK automotive firm to set up BIW in Russia

UK body-in-white automotive subcontractor, Stadco, is in discussions with a number of leading international OEM's about establishing a dedicated pressings and assembly facility in Russia.

Delegates at the Russian Automotive Industry conference in Moscow today heard from Stadco, the first European Body-In-White (BIW) company to start operating in the country, about further plans to develop business growth opportunities in the fast expanding Russian automotive market.

Speaking at the 10th annual conference, now an important event in the automotive calendar, Andrew Morriss, managing director of Stadco said that the company was in discussions with a number of leading international OEM's about establishing a dedicated pressings and assembly facility in Russia to augment its existing projects in the country.

Earlier this year Stadco announced a pioneering arrangement with Severstal-Auto that saw the company combine its proven expertise in BIW with Severstal-Auto's vehicle manufacturing experience, localised market knowledge and existing facilities.

One of the objectives of the arrangement is to offer the growing number of international car makers moving into Russia with modern, high quality stamping and assembly facilities backed up by Stadco's full engineering support services and established supply chain management processes.

Commenting on the continued growth opportunity for Stadco, Morriss told delegates: "Both indigenous and incoming OEMs are recognising that to bring localised BIW operations up to European standards will require significant investments, which can be hard to justify." Delegates heard that Stadco anticipates that the Russian supply base will mature significantly over the next five years and market growth in the BIW sector will rise from EUR 30 million in 2007 to circa EUR 150 million in 2012.

A number of leading US and Japanese automotive OEMs including GM, Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Ford have announced plans to start vehicle production in the St Petersburg area.

By the end of 2008 alone, Stadco anticipate that annual vehicle production by incoming OEMs will increase to over 300,000 units.

Morriss continued: "As the first Tier 1 supplier to establish a strong BIW presence in Russia, Stadco is well placed to offer these OEM's modern facilities featuring the latest automated processes which will meet the international quality, cost and delivery standards expected." Morriss added: "We look forward to the opportunity to offer stamping and assembly support to an international OEM in Russia which will allow us to establish a world-class facility that can offer these capabilities.

It will augment our existing projects with Severstal-Auto and cement our business growth strategy in this fast expanding automotive market." Stadco is one of Europe's leading suppliers of body-in-white panels and assemblies to vehicle manufacturers including Ford, BMW, Jaguar and Land Rover.

In addition to the new Russian operations, Stadco has five established manufacturing sites, four in the UK and one in Germany.

It also operates in South America and India.

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