For more than a year, the former Antennentechnik Bad Blankenburg with its headquarters in Weimar-Legefeld has been part of the Chinese group Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co, Ltd. which committed itself to support the development and growth of the company and to invest in the location.
New development center
This intention is taking a visible step forward these days. At the company headquarters in the Legefeld industrial park, the foundation stone for a new building will be laid in mid-November, which will house a development center. In addition to a prototype laboratory, a reflection-free antenna measuring chamber is to be built in it, as is currently only operated at the TU Ilmenau. The development center is intended to create the conditions for new in-house developments and for their transfer to series production by car manufacturers.
Up to 20 antennas in one vehicle
This is no longer just about antennas for car radios or route planners. "The vehicles are increasingly becoming a moving network node," explains Managing Director Michael Weber. Even today, cars need up to 20 antennas for data exchange between vehicle components and the environment. With the development direction of "autonomous driving" and the 5G standard, this is gaining enormously in importance. For the Desay Group, the laying fields were interesting from the beginning as a location with a high specialization in "smart antennas" and the associated technologies. Now, in the middle of the Corona crisis, the Chinese are strengthening this competence through a strategic investment. It is intended to facilitate entry into the passenger car market.
Smart antennas for vehicle manufacturers
So far, the laying fields have mainly equipped commercial and special vehicles with their technology. In the future, their intelligent antennas will enable the integration of Desay's infotainment and driver assistance systems in passenger cars, making them interesting for European car manufacturers. If the plans from Legefeld prove successful, the "prototype kings" (pre-series vehicles) for the European passenger car market will be brought in and out of the new development center.
New corporate structure in Europe
Against this background, the Group has also changed its corporate structure in Europe. Desay SV Automotive Europe GmbH now has its headquarters in Legefeld. Under its roof, the Legefeld ATBB Antennentechnik and the Desay branch in Mainaschaff with its ten employees have merged into one company. Desay thus makes the In der Buttergrube location its European contact for all Desay products in Europe. Weber: "An enormous sign of confidence! The ATBB will remain in this company with its origin and its products as a protected brand including logo.
Growth through development center
In everyday working life, the order situation in the commercial vehicle segment is growing again only slowly. As a result, the company has been on short-time working since the spring, despite the investments made in the future. "From the executive floor to the warehouse," emphasizes Michael Weber. This varies between 20 and 50 percent. But it has proven to be helpful that the company is not dependent on major customers. The CEO calls the German short-time work model and the company's own niche production "a blessing" in the crisis. The latter should therefore be maintained in the future. Only in this way, and with the strong mother behind him, was it possible to prevent the reduction of up to one fifth and at the same time invest. With the new development center, the signs are pointing to growth.
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