Restructuring

-The Samvardhana Motherson Group changed the name of the Company from Visiocorp plc to Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec effective August 1, 2009. (From a press release on June 10, 2009)

-In March 2009, Motherson Sumi Systems Limited (MSSL) completed the acquisition of the Company for approximately EUR 26.5 million. MSSL is the flagship company of Smavardhana Motherson Group and is the largest manufacturer of wiring harnesses in India. (From a press release on March 6, 2009)

-In April 2008, the Company announced the consolidation of its fuel filler flaps and door handle businesses in Germany. The Wedemark Plant closed on July 1, 2008 and moved its operations to the Hattorf plant, a more modern site. The Company made significant investments into the Hattorf site to reorganize the business and improve operations. (From a press release on April 23, 2008)

-The Company's restructuring program led to the divestiture of non-core activities and facilities including the sale of Freeglass in October 2007 and the sale of the Company's audio component business in April 2008. 

Joint Ventures

-In July 2008, the Company announced the opening of a new joint venture facility in Xizhou, China. Orders at that point had included components for VW, General Motors, and Nissan models. The joint venture had recently began supplying SAIC with fuel filler modules. (From a press release on July 29, 2008)

-In October 2007, Ningbo Huaxiang Electronic Company Ltd. and the Company founded a 50-50 joint venture for the production of exterior mirrors and other automotive components in China. Ningbo Huaxiang Electronic is a publicly listed company with a number of joint ventures in the Chinese automotive supply sector. The new joint venture called Ningbo Schefenacker Huaxiang Automotive Mirror Co., Ltd. operated a robotic spray application paint shop and modern injection molding machines. The joint venture was located in a 15,000 square meter plant in Zhejiang, near Shanghai. Operations were scheduled to start in early summer 2008 with the production of exterior mirrors and fuel filler modules for the local vehicle programs of Volkswagen and General Motors. (From a press release on October 26, 2007)

Awards

-In 2010, Ford announced that it would add 13 new companies to its Aligned Business Framework (ABF), bringing the total to 90 members. The new ABF suppliers are: the Company, Akebono, Automotive Lighting, Benteler, Brembo, Federal-Mogul, Gentex, GKN, Hayes Lemmerz, Key Safety Systems, Michelin, Ronal GmbH, Takata. Ford created the ABF in 2005 to strengthen its collaboration with key suppliers. (From a Ford press release on April 23, 2010)

R&D Structure

-The Company has more than 300 experienced engineers in 10 engineering centers in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Product Development

-The camera-based blind spot monitoring system developed by the Company enabled Volvo to win the Safety and Technology Award in November 2007 in the UK. Volvo implemented the system on its models that were introduced that year.

Investment Outside Germany

<Hungary>
-In May 2010, SMR Automotive Mirror Technology Hungary Bt began construction of a new manufacturing facility in Mosonmagyarovar, Hungary. The plant, the second in Hungary after a plant in Mosonszolnok, manufactures rear-view mirrors for passenger cars produced by European carmakers. The new plant was expected to double the annual production capacity of SMR Hungary. The Mosonmagyarovar facility was scheduled to begin operations by April 2011. The Company had also planned to transfer the R&D center from Gyor, Hungary to Mosonmagyarovar to strengthen its research and development capabilities. (From a press release on June 9, 2010)

<Thailand>
-In 2010, the Company was constructing a dedicated glass plant in Thailand for in-house glass requirements. The glass plant was expected to begin operations by March 2012. The Company started construction on a mirror assembly facility within the country after the glass plant was completed.