Kostal is a company dedicated to producing interior mechatronic parts for cars, which are the components that a person interacts with when entering the vehicle, such as seat adjustment mechanisms, window controls, turn signals, etc.

It's a long-standing company, as it began its operations in Germany over 100 years ago. The first time it expanded outside the country was to establish a plant in Querétaro in 1973. Since then, it has grown to have 37 locations worldwide with around 17,000 employees.

The first generation of Kostal dates back to 1912 and was represented by Leopold Kostal, focusing on electrification. In 1935, Kurt Kostal emerged, leading the second generation with a focus on motorization. The third generation, led by Helmut Kostal in 1972, saw the brand's globalization. The fourth generation, led by Andreas Kostal since 2008, shifted focus towards energy efficiency.

The company generates sales of over 2 billion euros annually, with a significant portion allocated to research and development. In Mexico, there are three plants: two in Querétaro and one in Guanajuato. One of the plants in Querétaro has 50 people working on development projects.

Daniel Velázquez, Director of Manufacturing at Kostal Mexicana, mentioned that one of the development projects they are working on is related to electric vehicles for the North American market. However, at the moment, he cannot share more details.

Additionally, he shared that, in the context of the pandemic, the company committed nationally to retaining all its employees, despite having stopped operations for approximately a month and a half, a measure that was successfully implemented.

On the other hand, being a German company and knowing that Germany is one of the countries strongly committed to reducing carbon footprint, Daniel explained that, in the plants installed in Mexico, they are also seeking to take such measures. They are developing projects to switch energy sources while conducting studies to assess how many watts are consumed for each part they produce. This is to generate ideas that contribute to reducing their environmental impact.