TitanX Engine Cooling makes Poland supplier move

TitanX Engine Cooling, a tier 1 automotive supplier from Sweden, is moving into large new facilities in Opole, Poland. TitanX inked a deal with business park operator CTP to open a 4000-square-metre facility at its Opole park and had begun moving in by early October. It is slated to be fully operational by January 2019. 

“We chose Opole because it fits our requirements perfectly – the city is close to customers and suppliers and has a good base for recruiting staff,” says Matt Moore, head of TitanXtend, TitanX’s aftermarket business unit. 

Global reach

TitanX Engine Cooling is a global supplier of powertrain cooling solutions to commercial vehicles, both for OEMs and the independent aftermarket. TitanX has annual sales of about SKr2bn ($220m) and nearly 900 employees worldwide. The company is headquartered in Gothenburg in Sweden and has development and manufacturing sites in Mjällby and Linköping in Sweden and in Jamestown in the US. In addition it has three manufacturing plants: Jaguariúna in the São Paulo area of Brazil, Kunshan in the Shanghai region in China, and Saltillo near Monterrey in Mexico. In Opole, the company will pack goods for the aftermarket.

The company’s roots go back to 1895, when blacksmith JW Thorell started his business in Linköping, Sweden. Meanwhile, in Jamestown, a workshop was established in 1914 that quickly became Jamestown Car Parts, a supplier to the nascent automotive industry. In 1953, the Mjällby plant in Blekinge, Sweden was founded by Alfalaval, which ran the factory for many years until Volvo acquired it.

One by one, the plants were acquired by Blackstone, and from 1979 all three plants had the same owner. Eventually, the three facilities were acquired by Valeo, which owned the plants until 2008, when there was a carve out of the heavy duty side of engine cooling, and TitanX was born. Since 2017, TitanX has been owned by India’s Tata AutoComp.

“I am happy to welcome TitanX and look forward to working with the company to ensure every success for its activities here in Poland,” said Hendrik Jung, director of key accounts at CTP.

Space to grow

CTPark Opole is located in south-western Poland, near many of the truck manufacturers and suppliers in the heavy vehicle industry. With additional land available, the park has a planned built-up area of nearly 71,000 square metres.

Commercial real estate developer and manager CTP specialises in the delivery and management of custom-built, hi-tech business parks for international and domestic companies making strategic investments in new or expanded operations in central Europe. 

CTP is the owner of the CTPark Network, the largest integrated system of premium business parks in central and eastern Europe, with some 4.7 million square metres of class-A properties in more than 90 locations. Its stated plan is to grow the portfolio to 10 million square metres of lettable space by extending co-operation with existing partners.

Opole’s automotive cluster won another expansion earlier in July 2018, when US-based Polaris Industries, a producer of all-terrain vehicles, snowmobiles and motorcycles, announced plans to expand operations at its existing facility. The company will increase its motorcycle production at the location.