Daikin Industries opened its European headquarters in Ostend exactly forty years ago. Since 1973, the resort town has served as a key hub for the international activities of the Japanese climate control specialist.
From Ostend, Daikin Europe N.V. serves the European market, Africa and the Middle East. The headquarters has grown to become an important site for research, development and production, creating innovative products to enable Daikin to respond to new market demands and to further strengthen its competitiveness.
Daikin Europe N.V. has become a leading player in the European climate control market. At the same time, the company has firmly embedded itself in the economic life of the Ostend region. Daikin Europe NV now has about 1,600 employees in Belgium, with 1,500 working in Ostend and 100 in Brussels.
The Ostend production facility is now one of the most advanced of its type. Production - spread over a site that covers 150,000 square metres - focuses mainly on advanced heating and cooling systems for residential, commercial and industrial applications.
Besides Ostend, Daikin Europe N.V. has other production centres in Plzen and Brno (Czech Republic), Cecchina and Milan (Italy), Güglingen (Germany), Cramlington (UK) and Hendek (Turkey). In total, Daikin Europe Group employs about 5,400 people, which last year accounted for a turnover of €1.85bn. This means that Daikin Europe NV delivers 20.1% of the total turnover of the Daikin Group.