Knorr-Bremse today announced the expansion of the company’s largest European truck manufacturing facility, the Aldersbach plant in Lower Bavaria. The start of construction was officially celebrated with a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony. The company plans to invest around EUR 125 million in total, including funding by the EU Innovation Fund. The plant’s footprint will be extended by about a quarter, and the plant itself prepared for high-volume production of the company’s all-electric EPS (Electric Power Steering) system. Knorr-Bremse is investing in energy-efficient automated and digital manufacturing technologies in particular, aiming to turn the plant into a high-tech facility by 2030. The expanded part of the plant is scheduled to begin operations in spring 2027.
Bernd Spies, Member of the Executive Board of Knorr-Bremse AG with global responsibility for the Commercial Vehicle Systems division, emphasized during the groundbreaking ceremony: “By investing in our truck plant in Lower Bavaria, we’re showing how committed we are to Germany as a major business and manufacturing center. We aim to achieve the very highest standards of quality and efficiency by using state-of-the-art technologies and processes. Our investment decision aims to accelerate the plant’s digital transformation while creating a highly efficient, futureproof infrastructure. The project also highlights our role as an important, attractive regional employer.”
Wolfgang Krinner, Managing Director, Knorr-Bremse Commercial Vehicle Systems, also attended today’s groundbreaking ceremony: “Our ‘Aldersbach 2030’ technology initiative is focused on systematically optimizing our on-site production, logistics and intralogistics processes as we seek to enhance our long-term competitiveness by investing in the ongoing production of climate-friendly solutions. EPS will make a significant contribution to the electrification and automated operation of commercial vehicles.”
EPS uses a “power-on-demand” principle to reduce the vehicle’s energy or fuel consumption, regardless of the drive technology involved. This in turn cuts energy costs and overall carbon emissions, thus makes a direct contribution to meeting the EU’s CO₂ targets. To prepare the Aldersbach plant for the production of the all-electric steering system, Knorr-Bremse will receive funding from the European Union’s Innovation Fund. The EU Innovation Fund is one of the world’s largest programs for financing the implementation of innovative decarbonization technologies. Compared with conventional steering systems, the energy-efficient steering systems which the plant will produce in the future could cut carbon emissions by up to 5.8 million tons in the first ten years alone.
The Aldersbach plant is Knorr-Bremse’s largest truck manufacturing facility in Europe. Every year, the plant produces some 2 million disc brakes and over 5 million mechatronic components for braking systems. Founded in 1980, the Aldersbach plant has evolved into an international facility that now employs more than 1,000 people from over 30 different countries.
SOURCE: Knorr-Bremse
