VGP has acquired a new tenant for its newly prepared technology park in Ústí nad Labem, situated in the northern part of the Czech Republic at a 90-kilometre distance from Prague. The new tenant in Hall A at VGP Park Ústí nad Labem City is Bosal, a company from the automotive industry.

Developer Panattoni is going to build a new large hall for 700 workers of the automotive industry in the Panattoni Park Pilsen West II. The hall will be custom-made for the American company Shape Corporation and the hall should be finished in the first half of 2023, says Colliers who negotiated the deal that was one of the largest in the first half of this year. 

Kromberg & Schubert, the German producer of cables and electrical systems for the car industry, has sold its plant in Timișoara to Continental Group, according to market sources quoted by ZF.ro. The transaction will allow the company to replace its manufacturing operations in the city with research and development activities. 

Reduced output in March & May in the automotive sector could change the typical activity curve in 2020, with busier summer months ahead to make up for lost time. Colliers International has just launched its recent research piece in which e it discusses the importance of particular months for the manufacturing sector in the EMEA region as well as presents the outlook for the coming months.

Colliers International advised Jaguar Land Rover Slovakia in leasing an 11,000 sqm new warehouse premises in DC3 – Supplier Park Nitra.

Panattoni Europe will develop its third manufacturing facility for Ideal Automotive. This time, the factory will be built in Świdnica, at the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone Invest-Park, and will take up approx. 27,400 sqm. Construction works will commence as early as this April, and are scheduled for completion in Q4 of this year. The lease was mediated by the advisory firm Colliers International.

Colliers International, Automotive Cluster Bulgaria and Pwc conducted a second consecutive survey of the automotive industry in Bulgaria. There are approximately 130 automotive companies in the country, producing components for top international automotive brands. These are predominantly Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers and include producers, which service other industries as well.

Power Systems giant Rolls-Royce has appointed Cushman & Wakefield to an expanded role supporting its global property requirements following a competitive tender process.

Representatives of the BMW Group, the Czech government and the Karlovy Vary region announced construction of a new proving ground. The roughly 500-hectare property will be developed in Sokolov in the Karlovy Vary region, close to the German border town of Waldsassen and about two-and-a-half hours’ drive from the BMW Group’s main development site, the Research and Development Centre (FIZ), in Munich. The new BMW Group proving ground, which will create several hundred jobs, is slated to go into operation early in the next decade. Total investment will be in the three-digit million-euro range.

Labour force is the key factor for auto player’s location decision-making process - says Colliers International in its latest research. The auto producers and component suppliers sector is very important in CEE industrial and is growing. Auto exports ranged from 4.7% of total exports in 2015 in Bulgaria, upwards to 28.0% in Hungary and 34.6% in Slovakia, growing at a regionally-weighted annual rate of 7.4% in the period 2010-2015.