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German group's UK arm delivers revolutionary gear selector for new Jaguar - 07/04/2008
The UK arm of German-owned Kostal Group is building on its success by being the sole manufacturer of a revolutionary product for the new Jaguar XF car.
Kostal UK, located in Goldthorpe, near Barnsley, South Yorkshire, in northern England, is making the groundbreaking rotary gear selector for the model, which has gone on sale this month. The development is the latest chapter in a success story that has seen Kostal UK’s turnover increase by 30 per cent in the last five years and now stand at more than 60 million euros.
The company is part of the family-owned Kostal Group, based in Lüdenscheid, which designs, manufactures and assembles electrical components for the automotive industry. Its major customers include Ford Group and its subsidiaries Land Rover, Jaguar, and Volvo.
Billed as an industry first, the rotary gear selector in the Jaguar XF rises from the central console when the red starter button is pushed. The Goldthorpe site will produce nearly 50,000 units this year.
Launched last November, the Jaguar XF has received favourable reviews in the UK and abroad. It was recently named Car of the Year in the 2008 awards of respected British magazine What Car?
Martin Wood, Managing Director of Kostal UK, which employs almost 400 staff, said: “It’s a fantastic thing for the area that such innovative products are being made here in Yorkshire. This is a major accomplishment for the Kostal Group, and especially for the Goldthorpe site.
“A number of things attracted us to the Yorkshire area, when we set up 18 years ago, including the fact that it’s quite central to where our customers are located and is close to several world-class universities.
“But what really tipped the balance was the practical advice and support we received from the local authority, Barnsley Council, and the welcome it gave us. There are also excellent chambers of commerce in the area and the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward does a great job helping foreign businesses wanting to establish a presence here.
“We’ve found it straightforward to engage with Yorkshire Forward and its support has extended beyond our formative period.”
Mr Wood said the loyalty of the workforce has been an impressive feature of operating in an area that had been decimated by the decline of its traditional industries, such as coal mining, and where unemployment had been high. He said the company was proud it had a large number of people who joined at its formation who were still on the staff, some of whom had worked their way up to senior posts.
Kostal UK opened its Goldthorpe base with an initial investment of almost six million marks and a major expansion just over 10 years ago saw the company invest a further sum of more than 15 million marks. The total amount invested in the site has now reached the equivalent of almost 40 million euros.
Goldthorpe now plays a significant role in the activities of the wider group - which has an overall turnover of more than a billion euros - given its proximity, geographically and culturally, to Germany. The Yorkshire workforce has direct responsibility for high-profile customers, including Volvo and Land Rover, as well as Jaguar, and is responsible for the group’s European operations relating to Japanese car makers.
Statistics provided by Yorkshire Forward show more than 30 German companies have invested significantly in the region during the last decade, creating or securing more than 4,500 jobs. Although the amounts invested have only been disclosed in about half the cases, Yorkshire Forward believes the aggregate amount involved to have been around 938m euros.
Among the top German companies to have put substantial money into the region during the period were Hamburg-based world market leading mail order distributor Otto Group, Freudenberg Nonwovens, Bonn-based confectionary giant Haribo, healthcare specialists B Braun, and Budenhiem-based plastic closure and dispenser suppliers Bericap Group.
Tom Riordan, Yorkshire Forward chief executive, said: “I’m delighted to hear about the success of Kostal UK and the significant role it’s playing in producing the new Jaguar. The group is among a growing number of German companies which are reaping the rewards of investing in the Yorkshire region and I wish them continued success in their operations here.”
