¤ BiH – AUTO | RAIL | AIR | SEA – Industry ¤

I don’t think I have ever created a thread on here, so I thought this one would be perfect! I love anything and everything about cars, and we all know BiH has a long history in the manufacturing of transportation vehicles of all sorts. I enjoy seeing this type of industry expand in BiH as it is an industry that is very viable and important to any country. Hopefully one day maybe BiH will even come out with its own brand of cars! 😀

Anyway, please post any relevant items to the transpiration industry here.

Also, I’d be happy to make a banner, but I don’t know if the name is appropriate before I do it?

:cheers:

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Automotive Industry

FIPA

Given Bosnia and Herzegovina’s rich and extensive tradition in the automotive industry, especially in production of auto components, BiH companies are renowned as suppliers of quality components. For decades, major brands have relied on the skilled workforce of BiH to assemble cars for western markets. The Volkswagen Group has recognised this tradition and Bosnia and Herzegovina is well under way to become the Group’s supply-base in South Eastern Europe, a market of 120 million consumers. The plant, located conveniently near Sarajevo, assembles Škoda and VW vehicles for the VW Group.

Prevent Sarajevo manufactures seat covers at two facilities in Zenica and Visoko. The production is primarily aimed at the French and German markets. Braking elements intended for export are manufactured for Volkswagen and Audi at Jelah.

A study by MIGA conducted in 2006 confirmed that BiH has numerous strengths in the automotive components industry, notably the availability of skilled labour in engineering and other technical areas, and well developed in-house R&D activities that make it competitive with some of Central Europe’s highest performers. With ongoing efforts focused on upgrading capacity and quality enhancement, companies in the automotive cluster are looking for investment partners to expand production into wider international markets.


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Automotive Industry in Bosnia-Herzegovina

AC-BiH

The automotive supplier industry in Bosnia-Herzegovina (B&H) has experienced a very dynamic development after the end of war in former Yugoslavia. Main areas of the automotive sector are metal processing (precision turning, milling, forming), toolmaking, plastic processing, automotive electrics and automotive textiles. Thereby the highest export rates are reached by the metal processing sector with an export rate of around 40% of the total production.

Renowned manufacturers such as MERCEDES, VW and MAN are among the main buyers of supplier products made in BiH. With the VW-factory in Vogosca near Sarajevo a renowned manufacturer itself is present in BiH. At this factory SKD production of various Skoda, Audi and VW-models takes place.

Privatisation of the companies is progressing fast as well. The majority of the companies in particular in the Federation is already fully privatised. Several international automotive suppliers have taken a share in BiH-companies or have taken over companies completely. The corresponding investments allowed particularly those companies a high and dynamic growth. Examples of this trend are the companies TMD Ai, (subsidiary of the Slovenian CIMOS-Group), which in the area of metal processing produces high-quality precision parts, or the filter manufacturer UNICO FILTER, which has recently been taken over by the German market leader MANN-HUMMEL. But also the investments in the fields of iron and steel production, aluminium production, production of engines and engine parts, production of plastic and rubber parts, textile and leather industry are in general related to the automotive industry.

Biggest exporter and second-largest company in the country is the Slovenian manufacturer of car seat covers, PREVENT which has several production sites in BiH for other automotive products as well and a 42% share in VW Sarajevo. About 95% of the seat covers in the VW-models Golf, Polo and Lupo are produced by PREVENT. In addition, PREVENT supplies the French manufacturers RENAULT and PEUGEOT.

BEKTO INTERNATIONAL is a modern and well-equipped manufacturer of (thermo)plastic injection parts for the automotive industry. Main companies active in the area of automotive electrics are CAJAVEC FSU, Laktasi (manfacturer of signals, relays and electronic switches) as well as ZRAK-AEO, Kiseljak (manfacturer of electronic special components).

In addition, there is a large number of manufacturers in Bosnia-Herzegovina producing a wide range of parts and components, such as brake parts and systems, clutches, engine and gear parts, steering parts and systems, aluminium wheels, drive shafts, car batteries, pumps, and various small parts such as springs, screws, hoses, and components of metal, rubber and plastic. According to the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia-Herzegovina (FTC-BiH), the export in the metal industry reached an estimated 1.134 billion Euro in 2006.

Industry sector Export (million Euro)
Metal and metal products 713.229
Machines and machine parts 276.074
Electrical machines, equipments and parts 66.529
Vehicles and vehicle parts 64.621
Arms and ammunition and parts 14.377
Metal industry sector total 1,134.832

Source: FTC-BiH, 2006

Another advantage of BiH is the relatively high density of research and development institutes, compared to the number of inhabitants. Especially the faculties of mechanical engineering of the universities of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Banja Luka, Zenica and Mostar co-operate closely with the local companies of the automotive supplier industry in a number of R&D-projects.

General Information on Bosnia-Hezegovina

GENERAL INFORMATION ON BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Form of Government: Federal Republic
Area: 51.129 km
Capital: Sarajevo
Population: ca. 3,9 million
GDP (2005): 8.2 billion Euro
Per capita GDP Euro (2005): 2,095 Euro

Current economic state in BiH:
– Stable, high economic growth rate (2005: 5,5%)
– Stable currency, low inflation rate (2005: 2,9%)
– Low labour costs (avarage net wages 2005: 545 KM / ca. 280 Euro )
– High availability of qualified staff