Donit Filter has its head office in Medvode on the outskirts of Ljubljana, the capital city of Slovenia. Donit Filter is part of the French company Filtrauto, one of the world’s largest and most reputable manufacturers of filters and itself part of Labinal group. This distinguished Slovene company manufactures air, oil and fuel filters for vehicle engines, and industrial filters. The products are of the highest quality, which makes them attractive to the most demanding buyers on the world market. The largest share of Donit Filter’s output is bought by the European car industry.

Last year Donit Filter exported 82 per cent of its total production. This year the company’s management plans to increase exports, chiefly to EU countries, to 85 per cent. Buyers of Donit Filter’s products include Germany’s most renowned car manufacturers, which boast some of the most prestigious and expensive vehicles in the world. Donit Filter has been a regular supplier of BMW for many years, and from this year Donit’s air and oil filters can be found in Daimler Benz’s Mercedes vehicles. This has provided Donit Filter with yet another string to its bow in this extremely demanding segment of the international market. Audi and Skoda engines have also been running more smoothly and reliably since Donit Filter began supplying them.

In 1997 Donit Filter manufactured 5.5 million filters; plans have been made to increase this to around seven million in 1998. This represents an increase of 30 per cent, which will also be reflected in a number of financial indicators. The huge expansion of output has not been the consequence of any major investment or of an increase in the workforce, which numbers around 250. Rather, it is the result of the internal flexibility of Donit’s production capacities and of the activation of the company’s reserves.

Donit Filter will preserve its identity despite the fact that it now has a new owner. The Donit Filter trademark has become one of six used by Filtrauto to market its filters. Donit has retained its Slovene management, along with a small but effective research unit, which will collaborate with Filtrauto’s central development laboratory in France.

Donit Filter currently has two production plants, in Medvode and Jesenice. Donit’s warehouse is situated in Kranj, the centre of the Gorenjska region. The company is planning, however, to move its production, warehousing, logistics and head office to a single location, near the company’s current head office, by June 1999.