Bundoora Opening

Minister Opens New Plant in Bundoora

The Minister for Industry and State Development, the Hon. Theo Theophanous MP, today officially opened the new Siemens VDO headquarters and manufacturing plant in Bundoora.  Siemens VDO has invested more than $A 25 million in constructing the new buildings and we will have further investments in capital equipment in the coming years.  The new facility will eventually provide employment opportunities for additional skilled workers and there will be significant flow-on benefits to local suppliers and service providers with many indirect jobs created.  This is good news for the automotive components industry in Victoria which has suffered significant job losses in the past year from companies either downsizing or moving off shore.  

 The new purpose-built facility will better enable Siemens VDO to become more globally competitive, which will allow the Company to expand its manufacturing and engineering base to include Powertrain, Chassis and Safety.  It will also enable the Company to grow its R&D activities in the State. 

Minister Theophanous said he was delighted to be opening the new facility today and that Siemens VDO was one of the largest and certainly one of the most innovative automotive component manufacturers in the world.  “The automotive industry is vital to the economy of Victoria and continues to make a vital contribution to the wealth of our State.  This new world class facility has provided a significant boost to the automotive components industry and will create a significant number of new jobs in Victoria.  Siemens VDO is a world leader in the automotive sector and we are delighted that our support has seen this Project come to fruition” he said.

Zoran Angelkovski, Chief Executive of Siemens VDO agreed, commenting that this was an exciting day for Siemens VDO in Australia and for the automotive components industry in Victoria.

“Our partnership with the Victorian Government was instrumental in the decision to expand our operations in Victoria.   At a time when so much of the automotive components industry has either reduced activity or moved activity off shore, Siemens VDO has reversed the trend by opening a new head quarters and manufacturing facility,” he said.

The Project was initially conceived in 2003 and Siemens VDO worked with the Victorian Government from the start of the project.  The new facility houses all of Siemens VDO’s existing business including the engineering and manufacture of sophisticated automotive products such as electronic instrumentation, climate control systems and body control modules for all four vehicle manufacturers in Australia, as well as BMW in Germany.  It also houses the distribution for the Siemens VDO after-market products division which distributes in-car satellite navigation systems, audio instrumentation and sensors for the automotive and marine market segments. 

Siemens VDO is proud to be celebrating 50 years operation in Australia.  VDO established its first manufacturing facility in Heidelberg to supply Volkswagen Australia with a speedometer for the VW Beetle.  Soon after, the customer group expanded to include GM Holden, Ford, Chrysler and Renault.  50 years later, Siemens VDO is now located in Bundoora and has a satellite site in Clovelly Park South Australia and a third site that will open in Campbellfield Victoria in April 2007.

Siemens VDO is a subsidiary of Siemens AG, one of the most advanced global automotive engineering and manufacturing groups in the world and a leader in the field of cockpit manufacture.  The Australian arm of the company is pivotal to the Group’s presence and success in the Asia-Pacific Region.   Siemens VDO has an enviable record when it comes to environmental and manufacturing awards and is both a recipient of a Premier’s award for partnerships at work and an inductee into the Victorian Manufacturing Hall of Fame.