Faurecia has signed a 50/50 joint-venture agreement with Howa Textile Industry to develop vehicle interior systems such as door panels and insulation, as well as soft and roof trim.
The JV – Faurecia Howa Interiors (FHI) – will be based in Atsugi Japan and says it has the objective to become a preferred Nissan supplier in Japan.
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The partners have agreed to split manufacturing among their respective plants on a global basis, with the exception of Mexico and China, where FHI intends to set up its own joint manufacturing units.
Specifically, FHI will support manufacturing activity in the following regions and countries: North America (Mexico, US), Europe (UK, Russia and Spain), Asia (Japan, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Thailand), South America (Argentina and Brazil) as well as in South Africa.
Based on current assumptions, FHI is targeting EUR100m(US$132m) Nissan sales by its parent companies by 2016.
First business awards have already been booked for a new global vehicle to be assembled at five different locations in Mexico, Thailand, South Africa, Spain and South America. Total targeted production of this new vehicle is expected to exceed 400,000 units per year.
“Faurecia’s interior systems business is expected to grow substantially with Nissan over the coming years, thanks to this new partnership with Howa Textile, a key established Japanese partner,” said Faurecia chairman and CEO, Yann Delabriere.”
“Faurecia Howa Interiors will be targeting new Nissan ‘Power 88′ opportunities in global automotive markets. With this new agreement, our global Nissan business relationship is reaching new heights.”
Howa Textile Industry, founded in March 1955, is a privately-held Japanese company specialised in vehicle interior systems such as soft-trim, hard-trim, and acoustics supplied to a range of Japanese car makers.
