Freudenberg has brought a new production line for car headliners into operation at its Suzhou site in eastern China.
This enables Freudenberg & Vilene Nonwovens to meet increasing demand for high-quality car roof linings and especially for quality printed products in Asia. The company is currently the only manufacturer in China with its own printing facility. Freudenberg Performance Materials is the specialist non-wovens arm of Freudenberg. In China, it is represented by Freudenberg & Vilene Nonwovens, a joint venture with Japan Vilene Company, Tokyo.
Over the past 10 years, Freudenberg has spent over CNY2.5bn (EUR300m) (US$336.7m) in China.
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"China is for us an important strategic market. We see a lot of growth opportunities in the long term. That is why we continuously develop our operational capabilities, including high-tech infrastructure and local R&D facilities, to ensure our competitive advantage," said Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, group regional representative, Asia.
The headliners are based on non-wovens and can be finished in various ways to provide additional functionality. Apart from excellent abrasion resistance, claimed outstanding acoustic properties and improved stain resistance, these products contribute to a marked reduction in vehicle weight when combined with other vehicle components. In addition, the company also uses a proportion of recycled products in the manufacture of its products. The new facility will enable the company to increase its production volumes.
"[We are] currently the only manufacturer in Asia with in-house printing capabilities. This gives us the ability to offer customers innovative, individualised products with the most up-to-date designs while ensuring consistently high quality", said Frank Heislitz, chief technology officer of Freudenberg performance materials. The supplier first introduced printed headliners to the market in 2010, meeting a special customer need.
The automotive market in Asia continues to grow. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), car sales in China alone grew by more than 7% year on year in the first half of 2016. Demand for high quality products is increasing and is especially strong for printed headliners. Asian OEMs show a marked preference for printed headliners that meet the high quality of Japanese and Korean design standards.
In Asia and China, Freudenberg & Vilene Company enjoys long-standing relationships with Asian OEMs, where it holds a leading position in the market. A cornerstone of this success has been the ability to create numerous headliner innovations.
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