Bertrandt, which almost doubled their work force to more than 7,000 over the past four years, will increase investments this year in workspaces and tools.
Bertrandt helps almost all European carmakers and major suppliers by developing, testing and prototyping anything from parts to entire vehicles as well as managing the interaction between parts makers and car manufacturers. Their revenue jumped 12% to €429m in the 12 months ended September 2010. In recent projects, the company coördinated the development of the interior lighting for Audi A8 flagship sedan, developed the doors for the sixth-generation Golf compact, Europe’s top-selling car, and helped design the instrument panels for Renault SA’s Scenic model line.
Working with competing carmakers means ongoing projects have to be shielded from third parties to exclude the risk of technology leaks, CEO Dietmar Bichler said. The Ehningen site is split up into various compartments that can obscure the materials, and company staff is forbidden from entering certain areas. “We rely on discretion, that’s clear, because it’s a small field,” the CEO said.
Most of Bertrandt’s 35 locations are placed close to plants or offices of major car manufacturers to facilitate exchanges during projects. Outside of Europe, the company have offices in Detroit, and have set up partnerships in Asia. Unlike Daimler and BMW, which have shifted facilities to growth markets including China, Bichler says as a developer, Bertrandt have little need to expand there. “The development is clearly focused here,” he said. “When it comes to production, German manufacturers are building more capacity in China, but in development services we don’t see that to such an extent.”
Bertrandt was founded in 1974.
