The Pilkington autoglass factory at Sagunto (Valencia, eastern Spain) has seen demand from car manufacturers rise 20% this year. Pilkington Automotive España and Pilkington Spain, the two Valencia-based subsidiaries of the UK glass group, hope to post a similar increase at the end of the fiscal year 2004/5 on 31 March, which would mean a rise in sales to EUR 129M compared to EUR 108M for the previous year. However, the Sagunto plant, which supplies practically all the car makers located in Spain, will not reach its target profit of over EUR 18M. "We have had technical problems in starting up a new furnace and launching production for four new models", said Agustín Abásolo, director of Pilkington in Spain, who estimates a profit of EUR 10-11M. The replacement of the furnace for windscreen production, which cost the firm EUR 4.2 million, together with the trial period and reject output, forced the firm to take exceptional measures to cope with orders including the use of express carriers.
