Press release

PWO prepares its Czech site for even faster growth

- Purchase of nearly 15,000 square meters of land

- Expansion of the site over the next 3 years

- Plan to extend the product range with components for the electrification of vehicles

Oberkirch, November 8, 2021 - PWO's Czech site has become one of the Group's strong growth drivers in the last 12 months. Now, PWO has entered the next stage in the expansion of the site's capacity. The basis for this is provided by the continually high new business for series productions in Eastern Europe and the strong increase in the number of further inquiries.

Therefore, around 15,000 square meters of adjacent land has now been purchased. In the next three years - closely coordinated with the detailed planning of our customers' orders - press halls, assembly and logistics spaces, and offices will be successively built on this land in order to realize the start-up of new series productions at the site while maintaining process safety and efficiency.

An assembly and logistics hall, which will nearly triple the space previously available for these activities, is due to be completed at the start of 2022. There is also a plan to put an additional 1,250 metric ton press into operation at the site by the start of 2024. Further expansions of press capacity are to follow.

Significant volumes of the orders on hand relate to seat components and instrument panel carriers both for long-term customers and for a vehicle manufacturer that we will supply with these products for the first time. They include solutions for purely electric premium models, which is currently a particularly high-growth market.

The product range at our Eastern European site, which is already broad, is to be diversified even further in the future. The focus will be on components for vehicle bodies and the electrification of vehicles.

Carlo Lazzarini, CEO of PWO AG, said: "PWO is evolving dynamically. We still have a lot of potential left untapped, especially in Eastern Europe. In the 3 mobility trends of electrification, safety and comfort we are systematically exploiting new opportunities. Our market position has a strong foundation in our almost complete independence from combustion engines while still being present in all vehicles, regardless of drive type."

Progress-Werk Oberkirch AG
The Executive Board

PWO profile
With our innovative lightweight solutions, we are the preferred partner of the global mobility industry. As an engineering house, we are constantly driving forward the development and production of sophisticated metal components and complex subsystems.

Under the slogan "People, Planet, Progress," we use our technological leadership at the boundaries of what is technologically feasible in metal forming and joining to serve our customers and business partners. Responsibility is at the heart of everything we do. We see our business as a "force for good," as our contribution to a positive development in the future for the benefit of our customers, employees and shareholders as well as for our environment. To this end, we are focusing on digitalizing all of our processes using the tools of the fourth industrial revolution.

We address the 3 areas of the mobility of the future: electrification, safety and comfort. More than 90 percent of our revenue is independent of combustion engines. Around 3,000 employees at 5 production locations and 3 assembly sites on 3 continents ensure maximum delivery reliability and quality.