Krupp Presta?s new plant at Ilsenburg, Germany has turned out to be a particularly successful investment. The plant started production of assembled camshafts in September 1998 with an initial workforce of 6. By 2001, it is expected to employ 125 people. Numerous new orders have plant expansion to take place much more quickly than originally planned.

The first assembled camshafts from the Ilsenburg plant were used in production of Volkswagen's Polo and Lupo models at VW's nearby Salzgitter plant. This was soon followed by further orders from Volkswagen as well as from Audi and Jaguar. The production facilities had to be increased from an initial 2,000 square meters to the current 6,000.

New manufacturing equipment has also already been ordered and will enter service midway through the year to handle additional orders already received from Volkswagen?s Chemnitz plant, for Skoda in the Czech Republic and for Volvo. Volvo is the first customer to purchase ready-to-fit camshafts from Krupp Presta Ilsenburg GmbH. Also, an order for assembled camshafts from Ilsenburg was recently received from VW de México.

The Ilsenburg plant of Liechtenstein-based Krupp Presta AG was certified to US standard QS 9000 and VDA 6.1 in September 1999. Assembled camshafts are up to 30 percent lighter than cast or forged shafts. The Ilsenburg production range is to be expanded in future to include the new Presta camshaft adjuster. The system - presented for the first time at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show - permits variable control of the intake and exhaust valves in gasoline engines. This reduces fuel consumption and emissions while increasing torque.