Magneti Marelli JV for lighting systems in China
Date: 22 Dec 2015
Magneti Marelli Automotive
Lighting and Changchun Fudi have signed an agreement for the establishment of a
Joint Venture in China to produce lighting systems and components for the
automotive market
Automotive Lighting, the
Magneti Marelli company devoted to the automotive lighting sector, and
Changchun Fudi Equipment Technology Development Co. LTD. (FUDI), a Chinese
investment company active in the automotive components industry, have signed an
agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) company aimed at the production and
sale of automotive lighting systems for the automotive market.
Magneti Marelli and FUDI are
already partners in a JV manufacturing powertrain components since 2012.
According to the agreement,
Automotive Lighting Reutlingen GmbH will own 60% of the share capital of the
new company, Changchun Magneti Marelli Automotive Lighting System Co., Ltd.,
while FUDI will hold the remaining 40%.
The industrial facilities of
the JV will be located in the Xin Xing Industrial Park of the Economic and
Technological Development Zone of Changchun, Jilin Province and will be aimed
at supplying carmakers in the North-East of China. The JV ideally completes the
footprint of Automotive Lighting in China, covering the region North of the
Yellow river, which is one of the strategic areas for the automotive sector in
the country, where both leading Chinese automotive companies and international
carmakers operating in China have located their plants. In particular, German
premium Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have a relevant presence in the
area.
The business scope of the JV
will be to produce automotive lighting systems (headlamps and rear lamps) based
on halogen, xenon and high-end LED technologies. The plant will be set up
within the first quarter of 2016, while the production is expected to start in
the first quarter of 2017. Built over a
land area of 48,000 square meters,
the plant with a total surface of 23,300 square meters will employ a workforce
of about 800 employees at his peak volume.
“The new JV with Fudi aimed to
be set in the northern part of the country – stated Ermanno Ferrari, CEO of
Automotive Lighting - allows Automotive Lighting to have the “ideal” footprint
in a key country for automotive like China, covering all the strategic areas in
which the most important carmakers are located with their facilities. In fact
our objective is being logistically and technically near them, in order to
support their business growth in the best way possible.”
Sylvain Dubois, Country
Manager of Magneti Marelli China, said: “This new factory in Changchun
represents our fourth Lighting plant in the country and marks an important milestone in the expansion
of Automotive Lighting in China. This will allow us to support in a better way
our strategic customers located in this region”.
Magneti Marelli Automotive
Lighting presence in the Chinese market started in 2005 with the opening of the
first 100% owned plant in Wuhu. In order to follow the Chinese automotive
market growth, two more plants were inaugurated: in February 2012 the second
wholly-owned plant in Foshan (South
China), and in May 2013 the new plant in Xiaogan resulting from the JV with
China South Industries. Moreover, Automotive Lighting Headquarters and Research
Centre in China are based in Shanghai
Source: Magneti
Marelli