Chinese auto firm expands in Romania amid nearshoring trend

AMSTERDAM: CTP, Europe’s largest industrial and logistics property developer, has leased 13,000 sqm of space at CTPark Deva II in western Romania to KSHG Auto Harness, a leading Chinese automotive component company.

This is in addition to the 8,000 sqm of space that KSHG already occupies at the park since 2022, when it brought the first high-tech production line of its kind to Romania and created 400 new jobs.

KSHG’s expansion reflects the growing demand for nearshoring, the practice of relocating production closer to the end markets, especially in the wake of the COVID pandemic and geopolitical tensions that disrupted global supply chains. Deva, a city in Transylvania, and its surroundings have become a hub for automotive and other high-tech manufacturing businesses that are attracted by the availability of skilled labour, growing economies and good connections to Western European markets in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

CTP, as a developer-landlord, always aims to have additional space at its parks for its tenants to grow into. This is why around 70% of CTP’s new leases are signed with existing clients, such as KSHG.

Andrei Bentea, Senior Leasing Officer at CTP Romania, commented: “We are pleased to see KSHG Auto Harness expand into more space at CTP Park Deva II. At CTP our focus is always on creating the right space for our customers that is designed and built to suit their needs. Because we hold our parks for the long-term, we get to really understand our tenants’ businesses, which means when they are ready to expand we are ready to help them. At most of our parks our strategy is to have additional land available earmarked for development, providing our tenants with the flexibility they need to expand. This has been welcomed by many of or multinational clients who are increasingly looking to nearshore the production of goods they are making for their clients in European markets.”

Established in 1988, Kunshan Huguang Automotive Electric Co., Ltd. is a privately owned company, specialising in the development and production of high and low voltage automotive wiring harnesses. It is a market leader in the sector, known for its innovation and ability to develop cutting-edge products.

CTPark Deva II is strategically located in Bacia, on Romania’s E79 highway, just a few kilometres from the main A1 motorway that linking to Bucharest and the Hungarian and Serbian borders. It also benefits from excellent public transport links to surrounding local areas.

Romania is CTP’s second largest market, representing over 2.6 million sqm of its portfolio across Class A industrial and logistics space in more than 15 Romanian cities, including Arad, Brasov, Bucharest, Caransebes, Cluj-Napoca, Craiova, Deva, Oradea, Pitesti, Sibiu, Targu Mures, Timisoara, Turda, Ineu and Salonta.

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