German auto-parts maker and engineering firm Robert Bosch is planning to open new auto assembly plant in Saratov, Russia to produce more car spare parts in the region.
The recent plan was announced few years after the auto parts maker had to cancel its plans to build a second auto production plant in the country due to the economic drawback.
The plan comes out following a profitable year during which the company saw a 50% rise in sales in the country to almost EUR1bn.
Under the localization plan, the company will build assembly lines for generators, starters, accelerators, oxygen sensors and electronic brake systems over 2013 and 2014 in Saratov.
The company said that the diesel technologies will also be produced in Russia after 2014, but the location of the assembly is still not determined.
Robert Bosch regional director for automobile component sales Walter Schopf was quoted by the Moscow times as saying that the company could not say how much the expansion would cost or how many jobs would be created, but he estimated that sales will more than double after the final stage of expansion is complete.
"Localization will help Bosch accommodate the Russian automakers' habit of making last-minute decisions about their own production lines," Schopf said.
"Our Russian customers are still planning on a very short-time basis, and sometimes products are already on the road when our customer decides that he wants to delay something or that he wants to shift from one product mix to another product mix."
