Vienna International Automotive Industry News

Read the latest headlines about developments in the international automotive industry in Vienna and Austria

Opel Records Rise in Production

Opel Austria, a subsidiary of the U.S. group General Motors, could raise production by 11% in 2011.

January 25, 2012

KTM to Enter India

Together with its Indian partner, the Austrian motor-bike producer KTM aims for entering India.

January 25, 2012

Austrian Mercedes Production Endangered to Shift to Hungary

Construction of the SUV Mercedes G-class could switch from the Magna factory in Graz to Hungary.

January 24, 2012

Pankl Takes Over German Automotive Company

The Austrian automotive and racing company Pankl acquires the German specialist Huber, which is located in Munich.

January 11, 2012

Tyrol Equity Takes Over German RSN Sihn

The Austrian investment company acquired 50.1% in the German automotive supplier company RSN Sihn.

January 2, 2012

Pollmann China Doubles Production Area

The Austrian automotive supplier company expands its activities in China.

January 2, 2012

Rising Market Share for Porsche Holding

The Salzburg-bases Porsche Holding announces that more than every third sold car in Austria comes from the VW/Porsche Group.

December 28, 2011

Optimism at Austrian Automobile Industry

In spite of a weak economic outlook for 2012, Austrian automobile industry enterprises expect a good year.

December 27, 2011

Polytec Sells Interior Business

The Austrian automotive component manufacturer sells its Spain-based interior segment. Results for 2011 are confirmed.

December 27, 2011

Wolong Holds 98.8% in ATB Austria

The Chinese Wolong Group has almost finished its complete takeover of the former A-Tec subsidiary ATB.

December 13, 2011

Airport in Qatar Orders from Rosenbauer

The Austrian manufacturer of fire fighting vehicles delivers goods worth € 20m to New Doha International Airport.

December 13, 2011

Magna to Develop Luxury Cars in Styria

The Japanese Infiniti lets Magna develop and construct its smallest model in Austria.

December 10, 2011

Miba Continues Growth Path

In the first three quarters, the automotive component supplier could record an increase in sales by 37%. EBIT was up by 22.1%.

December 9, 2011

Magna Powertrain Expands in Styria

The Canadian automotive supplier again invests in the Austrian plan Lannach. Investments of € 30m are planned.

December 6, 2011

Strong Results for Pankl Racing Systems

The Austrian supplier of racing and aerospace systems could improve revenues, earnings as well as profits significantly.

November 21, 2011

Polytec Raises Outlook and Confirms Dividend

The Austrian component supplier registered a 50% decline in financing costs. Group sales are now expected to amount to € 650m in the full year.

November 10, 2011

KTM Heading for Record

The Austrian motorcycle manufacturer increased turnover by 12%. Previous year’s profit was already exceeded in the first three quarters of 2011.

November 3, 2011

Polytec Considers Acquisitions

The Austrian automotive component supplier Polytec, which recently achieved the turnaround, now also considers to expand its business via external growth.

November 2, 2011

Austria - Regional Leader in E-Mobility

Roland Berger Strategy Consultants released a new study on e-mobility in Central and Eastern Europe. The study presents a comprehensive assessment of e mobility maturity in eight countries and identifies best practices.

October 20, 2011

GM Makes Major Investment in Austria

The U.S. corporation invests € 50m in its Viennese powertrain factory.

October 19, 2011

Small Increase in Used Car Registrations

Registrations of used motor vehicles in Austria from January to September 2011: +0.8%; passenger cars +0.2%.

October 19, 2011

Austrian Motor Vehicle Industry Prospers

Vehicle production recovered completely in 2010 – high commodity prices hindered significant earnings growth. In 2011, sales will reach € 14bn again.

October 17, 2011

Increase of Car Production in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Last week, the Czech Statistics Office announced that industrial production since the beginning of the year increased by 3.5 percent mainly due to the automotive industry.

October 12, 2011

Drop in Car Production in Poland

In September 2011, the production of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in Poland amounted to 70,521 units, an increase by 63,24% (27,319 units) compared to August 2011 reported the Samar Institute.

October 12, 2011

Skoda’s Domination in Poland

According to research conducted by Samar, Skoda has been the unquestionable leader of the Polish car market during last 30 months.

October 11, 2011

BMW Austria Fears Lack in Skilled Labor

The German automobile corporation´s factory in Steyr, Austria, already produces 5000 engines per day. 200 new workers were hired this year.

October 4, 2011

Decreasing Registrations of Cars in Austria

Registrations of used motor vehicles in August 2011: -0.7%; passenger cars -1.8%, lorries +1.9%.

September 20, 2011

Miba Reports Strong Growth in Sales

The Austrian component supplier achieved a sales increase of 38.5% in the first half of FY 2011/12. EBT amounted to € 28.6m, slightly higher than in the previous year.

September 9, 2011

ZKW Expands Rapidly

The Austrian component supplier raises its production significantly. A new factory site in China has been opened.

September 5, 2011

voestalpine Merges Subsidiaries in the Automotive Division

The structural parts group of the Austrian steel company’s automotive division is united within voestalpine Stamptec.

September 1, 2011

Magna to Build Battery Factory in Styria

The international component supplier and Frank Stronach will start production of batteries for electric vehicles. They received a major order from Mercedes.

August 26, 2011

Pankl: Earnings Nearly Tripled in Q2

The Austrian component supplier increased revenues by 14.7% in the first six months of the year. EBIT improved by 55% from € 3.1m to € 4.8m.

August 22, 2011

Strong Plus in Sales for Magna

The Canadian component supplier increased sales by 29% to $ 14.5bn. In Austria, the company employs approximately 11,000 people.

August 5, 2011

Polytec Expands Capacities after Strong First Half of 2011

The Austrian component supplier achieved significant growth in earnings and is going to invest in its core competences. The group will acquire PPI Plastic Products Innovation GmbH & Co KG.

August 3, 2011

Changes in the Management Board of Pankl

The Austrian component supplier extended the contract of CEO Wolfgang Plasser for further five years. Josef Faigle will succeed Alfred Hörtenhuber as COO.

August 1, 2011

KTM Achieves Strong Growth

The Austrian motorcycle manufacturer reported a positive development in the first half of 2011. Turnover increased by 24%; EBIT went up 18%.

July 28, 2011

Indian Motherson Sumi to Acquire Peguform from Cross Industries

The Austrian industrial holding company found a buyer for the automotive component supplier which had been separated from the Polytec Group in 2009.

July 13, 2011

RLB OÖ to Sell Its Stake in Polytec

The Upper Austrian regional bank will sell its shares in the component supplier for approximately € 34m.

June 29, 2011

KTM: Capital Increase Completed Successfully

The Austrian motorcycle manufacturer strengthened its share capital by € 14m by issuance of 400,000 new bearer shares. Main shareholders are CROSS Industries with 50.1% and Bajaj with 39.79%.

June 21, 2011

Polytec Sells the Interior Segment to the Toyota Group

The Austrian component supplier divests a business segment due to high competitive pressure. The buyer is Toyota Boshoku Europe.

June 9, 2011

Mixed Quarterly Results for KTM

The Austrian motorcycle manufacturer reported significantly higher sales in the first three months of the year. EBIT, however, decreased by 78% year-on-year.

May 25, 2011

Pankl Announces Earnings and Sales Growth

Pankl Racing Systems AG records a 13.6% increase in revenues. EBIT improved by 40% from € 2.5m to € 3.5m.

May 16, 2011

Highly Satisfying Results for Polytec

The Austrian component supplier could definitively leave the crisis behind. EBITDA rose more than four-fold.

May 11, 2011

Profit growth for Frauenthal

The supplier firm reported a sales increase of 22%; profit ratios increased significantly.

May 3, 2011

austriamicrosystems Reports Improving Results

austriamicrosystems reports year-on-year revenue and earnings growth for the first quarter of 2011 driven by robust demand across target markets.

April 29, 2011

Every second Company Concerned by Crisis in Libya and Japan

According to a survey in Upper Austria, 46% of the companies are concerned by the rise in commodity and energy prices or by supply bottlenecks in the electronic industry.

April 23, 2011

Rising Number of One-Day Registrations of Cars

One-day registrations of passenger cars in the first quarter 2011: +5.6%; 5.1% of the new passenger cars were deregistered within 24 hours

April 22, 2011

Frauenthal: Staff Returns

The Styrian supply company was hard hit by the crisis. After an unavoidable workforce reduction, capacities are growing again.

April 19, 2011

Registration of new passenger cars increased by 7.8%

New vehicle registrations in Austria in first quarter 2011: +15.4%; passenger cars +15.7%, almost one-third more lorries.

April 11, 2011

Polytec Achieves Turnaround

The Austrian component supplier could improve its results substantially. Net profits are in the black again.

April 7, 2011