Continental begins construction of its first plant in Lithuania

Continental is expanding its European production capacities, celebrating the groundbreaking ceremony for its first plant in Kaunas, Lithuania.

From the second half of 2019, electronic components for the European market will be manufactured in the technology company’s new electronics plant.

Components will include door and seat control units as well as gateways and units for intelligent glass control, whose film technology allows the vehicle glazing to be darkened automatically or via user input.

Also, short and long-range radar sensors for comfort and safety functions and the Assisted & Automated Control Unit (ADCU) – a multipurpose processing platform for Highly Automated Driving – will be produced.

Continental will be investing €95 million over the next five years and will create around 1,000 new jobs. The recruiting phase has already been started, firstly focusing on production related areas such as Industrial Engineering, Logistics, Manufacturing Operations and Production, as well as Quality.

“The market for automotive electronics is surging as the number of in-vehicle electronics systems continues to rise. With the latest addition to our global network of 30 electronics plants, we are continuing to expand our production capacity. This will enable us to meet the growing customer demand even more effectively,” said Dr. Hans-Jürgen Braun, head of Continental’s electronics plants.

Construction has begun on the new site in Kaunas, spanning an initial 22,000m2, including accommodating production, administration and warehousing facilities.

The modular concept allows to further expand these components in the future as required. The plant fulfills Industry 4.0 requirements, which means that it will be possible in the future to use, for example, Automated Guided Vehicles.