Faurecia & Howa Textile sign JV for vehicle interiors
April 19, 2012 - France
Building on its growing global business with Japanese automakers, in particular with Nissan, Faurecia – the world’s N°1 supplier of vehicle interior systems – today announced that it has signed a new 50/50 joint-venture agreement with Howa Textile Industry Co., Ltd. The new joint-venture – Faurecia Howa Interiors (FHI) – will be based in Atsugi (Japan) and will be dedicated to the development of vehicle interior systems such as door panels, in-vehicle insulation, soft trim and roof trim.
The objective of the partnership is to become a preferred Nissan supplier in Japan for door panels and soft trims and boost efforts to provide joint support from Faurecia and Howa to Nissan on a truly global basis. 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, USA), 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 targets €100 million 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. Faurecia Howa Interiors will be targeting new Nissan ‘Power 88’ opportunities in global automotive markets,” said Yann Delabrière, Chairman and CEO of Faurecia. “With this new agreement, our global Nissan business relationship is reaching new heights.”
“I expect that the business alliance between Faurecia, with its proven global track record, and Howa Textile, which has extensive experience and proven business results with Japanese customers, will strongly support the expansion of both companies’ business with Nissan.” said Akiyori Shibuya, Representative Director of Howa Textile Industry Co., Ltd.
Howa Textile Industry Co., Ltd., founded in March 1955, is a privately-held Japanese company specialized in vehicle interior systems such as soft-trim, hard-trim, and acoustics supplied to a broad range of Japanese car makers.
The objective of the partnership is to become a preferred Nissan supplier in Japan for door panels and soft trims and boost efforts to provide joint support from Faurecia and Howa to Nissan on a truly global basis. 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, USA), 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 targets €100 million 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. Faurecia Howa Interiors will be targeting new Nissan ‘Power 88’ opportunities in global automotive markets,” said Yann Delabrière, Chairman and CEO of Faurecia. “With this new agreement, our global Nissan business relationship is reaching new heights.”
“I expect that the business alliance between Faurecia, with its proven global track record, and Howa Textile, which has extensive experience and proven business results with Japanese customers, will strongly support the expansion of both companies’ business with Nissan.” said Akiyori Shibuya, Representative Director of Howa Textile Industry Co., Ltd.
Howa Textile Industry Co., Ltd., founded in March 1955, is a privately-held Japanese company specialized in vehicle interior systems such as soft-trim, hard-trim, and acoustics supplied to a broad range of Japanese car makers.