Shortly after Maserati introduced its concept car Kubang in 2011 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, rumours about the production version of the car have begun to circulate. It didn’t take long for Maserati to confirm its first SUV, symbolically named Levante. The name comes from the street Via Emilia Levante in Bologne where about one hundred years ago the Maserati brothers dreamt about the company that still wears their name.

For Maserati this year has been marked with Levante that will be introduced at Geneva Motor Show. In that way Maserati enters competitive, but profitable luxury SUV market. Air ducts for the first Maserati SUV will be produced namely at AD Plastik’s factories. After a successful development project on grab handles with FCA Group, this time AD Plastik has a role of development partner on the luxury Levante air duct project.

„Above all, mentioned projects mean an increase in realization, that is revenue increase for AD Plastik. Cooperation with Maserati opens up a new business area because, apart from the fact that this is our first joint development project, Levante belongs to the luxury car category with which we haven’t cooperated often so far. This is a proof that we have the knowledge, capacity and the required quality to meet the challenges of the most demanding customers and models in the automotive market,“ said Marinko Došen, President of AD Plastik’s Management Board.

The story with Levante began in the fall of 2014 when request for quotation from Maserati was received and shortly after a cooperation was realized. At the customer’s request, AD Plastik’s constructor Uroš Pavlović last year briefly joined the Maserati’s fluid mechanics experts in Modena. Front air ducts were jointly modeled there with a total of nine components. AD Plastik was responsible for production of air ducts which conduct air for heating/cooling passenger compartment from instrument panel to the rear part of the vehicle. This refers to seven components that will be produced at the Mladenovac factory using blow moulding technology and five injection moulded components that will be produced in Solin. The project is in the final phase, customer’s audits have recently been successfully finished at both factories and start of serial production is planned at the end of February.

A great business opportunity is ahead of Maserati and another more gorgeous SUV – luxury Levante awaits all car nuts.

AD Plastik Group has published temporary and unaudited annual report that confirms the continuation of the positive growth trend of the company’s business results.

In 2015 AD Plastik Group achieved a 15 percent increase of total operating revenue and sales revenue grew by 16 percent compared to the last year and it amounted to more than HRK 1 billion. A 121 percent EBITDA growth was achieved compared to the same period last year and it amounted to HRK 122.4 million. Group’s net profit amounted to HRK 44.3 million, representing a growth of 800 percent compared to the previous year. The parent company in Croatia achieved sales revenue amounting to HRK 753.8 million, representing a growth of 26 percent compared to 2014.

“We made a significant turnoabout in AD Plastik’s business in the last year and business results achieved confirm the correctness of the direction we have started with. That is also supported by the fact that we have increased business revenue of AD Plastik Group by 15 percent despite the complex and demanding situation in Russia, with growth of expenses just by 9 percent. Our main goal for 2016 is further sales revenue growth, increment of EBITDA margin to 12 percent and continuation of reduction in debt obligations according to business plan. In order to improve the profitability and achieve planned business results, our key goals are growth in existing markets, efficiency improvement and strengthening financial stability, opening new business markets and increasing share value to the satisfaction of all our shareholders,” said President of the Management Board Marinko Došen.

Compared to 2014, revenue growth amounting to 37.8 percent was achieved in the EU and Serbian markets. It is a result of a further increase in the utilization of production capacities in Croatia and Serbia. Apart from the Edison project, projects related to the customers PSA and Ford contributed to capacity occupancy.

Although Russian automotive market continues to decline significantly, decrease in sales revenue in Russia has not affected significantly the Group’s planned operating revenue. Factories in Russia have begun production of new projects in the past year – Renault Duster phase 2, new Qashqai and Lada Vesta and it is important to mention winning the nominations for production of new components for Ford. AD Plastik Group  recorded a revenue drop of 21.8 percent in the Russian market, which is considerably less than the overall sales drop of 35.7 percent in the Russian automotive market.

Significant turnabout in operating business management made last year has resulted in realization of planned profitability improvement and in satisfactory financial results that confirm realization of goals set by the Management Board.