Lithuanian Automotive companies successfully withstood the COVID-19 pandemic and the amount of orders the 1Q in 2021 have significantly increased compared to 2020. Automotive companies – BACC members are developing new products and services. Lithuania and the Baltic States are being “discovered” due to their well-developed infrastructure, good geographical location connecting the markets of Eastern, Northern and Western countries, available engineering competencies and competitive environment. 

We believe that new business partners will find suppliers – BACC companies and start developing common projects. 

For more than 60 years, UAB Panevėžio Aurida has been designing and producing compressors for brake systems and various assemblies used in trucks, buses, tractors, road construction equipment and other heavy machinery. For many years, the factory focused on exports to Eastern markets, supplying products to KAMAZ, MAZ, KrAZ, URALAZ and other automotive producers as well as to the market for spare parts. For this reason, the company’s operations were not especially well-known in Lithuania itself.

The team at UAB Panevėžio Aurida, while exploring new niches for products and seeking to enter other markets, noticed that the vehicle fleet and equipment used in agriculture in Lithuania and neighbouring countries has significantly changed in recent years. There are now many tractors and combines, new and used, that were manufactured in the West. This has increased the demand for spare parts. Therefore, a programme to produce compressors for agricultural equipment was drawn up, and a high-priority effort to research this niche and prepare new products for agricultural use was begun. In 2019-2020, an entire range of new compressors for New Holland, Case IH, John Deere, Deutz-Fahr, Fendt, Valtra, MTZ, Massey Ferguson and CLAAS tractors and combines was designed, prepared for production and/or adapted from the assortment already being produced. The technical and operational characteristics of the products made by UAB Panevėžio Aurida compare favourably with analogous products from compressor makers such as Knorr-Bremse, WABCO, Haldex and POLMO. At the end of 2020, the first contracts with agricultural equipment service companies were signed and production began.

Also in 2020, cooperation with automotive and agricultural equipment manufacturers in the company’s traditional markets continued. Samples of the 4212-101 model were supplied to the Petersburg Tractor Plant, and the samples demonstrated performance superior to those of Belarusian manufacturers that are currently in use. It can be said that at this time the compressor made by UAB Panevėžio Aurida is one of the best in the world. It is planned to use the 4212-101 model in the latest Kirovets tractor engines.

New compressor models 3122-202 and 3122-203 have been prepared for use in the latest Euro 5 engines JMZ-534 and JMZ-536 produced at the Yaroslavl Motor Plant. When the pandemic-related restrictions are lifted, a sample shipment will be delivered to the engine manufacturer.

UAB Panevėžio Aurida produces and supplies to the market the largest assortment of compressors for KAMAZ vehicles. In 2020, two new compressors were introduced, models 18.3509015-20 and 18.3509015-21, for use in the most widely-used truck engines. It is noteworthy that in 2014, participating together with the Baltic Automotive Component Cluster at the Hannover Trade Fair, UAB Panevėžio Aurida’s compressor 4222-100, designed for KAMAZ, was recognised as the most innovative product, for which there are no analogues from other manufacturers even today.

It is also noteworthy that when the company began to cooperate with PAZ, UAB Panevėžio Aurida’s compressor model 3112-101 demonstrated testing parameters superior to those of compressors made by world-class manufacturer Knorr-Bremse, and the compressor model 3112-104 is the only compressor used by PAZ in natural gas engines ISUZU-4HV1 in the PAZ 32053 bus.

During the last 25 years, the company has manufactured compressors of various designs. In the annual Product of the Year competition sponsored by the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, the company’s compressors were awarded gold medals in 2012, 2013 ir 2017.

The company has prepared compressor model 4222-103 for Cummins engines in Dart, Enviro, Falcon, Versa and other buses; model 5222-100 for Renault trucks; model 7122-102/103 for Mercedes-Benz OM 457 LA engines; model 7222-200 for Cursor 13 engines in Iveco (Stralis), Renault and other trucks.

The company is proud to say that after 25 years of intensive work, it remains a leading exporter, with more than 60 compressors of various designs being produced at the present time.

VIDEO ABOUT THE COMPANY AND ITS AWARDS.

We are pleased with the fruitful cooperation among the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation,  the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Enterprise Lithuania and BACC member-companies.

BACC member-companies initiate meetings with the Ministry’s vice-ministers,commercial attaches and make proposals. BACC members share information on current events, thoroughly describe the situation in the companies and make proposals regarding support measures for the business community.

BACC member-companies closely cooperate with LINPRA, the Lithuanian Engineering Industries Association, seeking ways to make effective use of the technological capabilities of companies in the sector.

BACC companies organise events bringing members together, share insights into the current economic situation, exchange information about the effects of COVID-19 and consult on various strategic decisions. In the face of today’s uncertain situation, this cooperation becomes even more important, because only by consulting together can the best all-round solutions be found.