Bosch Group, the world's largest maker of auto parts, recently began construction on a 1.1 billion yuan plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, to produce spark plugs, brake components and diagnostics equipment by 2013.

The plant is designed to make some 100 million spark plugs annually, the biggest output worldwide for the German company.

The new facility will also produce 80 million brake pads and 25,000 sets of diagnostic equipment yearly.

It will also be home to a new R&D center for Bosch's automotive aftermarket division.

More than 3,000 employees will be hired to work at the new facility, the company said.

"The new plant will significantly enhance production capacity by Bosch's automotive aftermarket business and integrate related product lines in China," said Ken Ford, regional president of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket Asia Pacific.

"Increasing car ownership in China will lead to a rare opportunity in the automotive aftermarket," he added. "With its long presence in the country, Bosch will continue to seize the strategic opportunity to bundle its manufacturing and technical strengths."

Bosch's aftermarket business began in Nanjing in 1996. Bosch Automotive Products (Nanjing) Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary, is now one of the world leaders in spark plug manufacturing techniques and quality control.

It produces Bosch and Leidian brand spark plugs that supplied to domestic automakers and the global market through Bosch's worldwide sales and service network.

After the new facility is completed, Bosch's existing plant in Nanjing will be demolished.

Due to robust growth in China's auto market, sales revenues at Bosch's automotive technology sector increased 38 percent to 23.3 billion yuan in 2010.

Combined with its businesses in industrial technology, consumer goods and building technology, revenue of the group in China - its third-largest market worldwide following Germany and the US - totaled 37 billion yuan last year, a 36 percent increase over 2009.