Faurecia says the importance of China to its Group can be gauged by the fact seven out of its top ten plants are located in the country.
The supplier now has 38 sites employing 13,000 staff and four R&D centres with 800 engineers and claims the Group is market leader in emissions control technologies, seat frames and mechanisms, as well as interior systems.
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During the next five years, Faurecia will invest EUR400m (US$500m) in China and will grow plant numbers to 55, with more than 1,200 R&D engineers.
“Faurecia in China enjoys a pretty good reputation on the market with our OEMs,” Faurecia deputy general manager China Division, Jingcheng Li, told just-auto, from Shanghai. “What they are recognising with Faurecia is the operational performances of our plants.
“Among the top ten of the Faurecia Group, seven plants are located in China. We have efficient plants, which are considered more or less the benchmark.
“We locate our R&D competence in China and can develop for worldwide programmes. What they recognise in Faurecia is globally, the Group is very dedicated to the [automotive] industry. We do not have diversified activities outside the automotive industry, which is perceived as a strength.”
China’s annual passenger vehicle growth is expected to reach 30m by 2017 from the current 23m, but Li estimates its infrastructure impact will be softened by the spread of car ownership to the country’s already large cities in the centre and West.
“There is a big issue for the big cities, but today we see market growth in central and Western regions of China,” he said. “In these locations, density of the car is still pretty low.
“In China, we have a discussion, what is the annual volume turning point, whether it is 40m or 70m. This is the range. It seems the market says this point will be 40m.”
Faurecia Group has now been in China for 20 years.
