Winterthur, Switzerland -- Industrial group Rieter boosted its new orders and sales in 2010 after a two-year slump.
New orders increased by 64 percent, totalling CHF 3170 million ($3343 million), while sales jumped by 32 percent reaching CHF 2586 million ($2728 million).
The company, which makes acoustic parts for the automotive industry and machinery for the textile industry, announced the news in a 4 Feb shareholder's letter.
Rieter's Automotive Systems unit, which uses polyurethane acoustic and insulation components for vehicle interiors, recorded sales of CHF 1715 million ($1809 million), up by 20 percent from the previous year. The Swiss group noted that the weakness of the US dollar and the Euro versus the Swiss franc had an adverse impact on sales.
Last year saw a 23-percent increase in automobile production worldwide, to about 73 million light motor vehicles, according to Rieter's report. Growth was strongest in North America where output grew by 14 percent.
Despite the upswing in 2010, Rieter said that neither of the Automotive Systems units main markets - Europe and North America - regained the output levels achieved in the good years before the economic crisis.
The company noted that China experienced a 28-percent boom in vehicle production in 2010. Rieter expanded its presence in China and also in India. It noted that production capacity in Asia would continue to be expanded in 2011. LMH
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