Ficosa International, S.A. Business Report FY ended Dec. 2018
Recent Years
Financial Overview |
(in million EUR) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2017 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2016 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2015 | |
| Net Sales | 1,190.0 | 1,152.6 | 1,099.9 |
-In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017, the Company’s sales increased by 3.2% over the previous year to EUR 1,190.0 million. The Company’s sales have steadily increased since 2012 due to the Company’s strategy focusing on internationalization, efficiency, technological innovation and activity diversification.
Ficosa as a consolidated subsidiary of Panasonic
-Panasonic Corporation announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of additional shares in the Company after the satisfaction of all conditions to the closing of the transaction as of July 4. Panasonic has acquired an additional 20% of the Company’s issued shares held by Ficosa Inversion. Combined with the shares Panasonic already holds, Panasonic now owns 69% of the issued shares of the Company, making it a consolidated subsidiary. With this transaction, Panasonic positions the Company as one of Panasonic’s business divisions. Panasonic is aiming to reach sales of two trillion yen in its automotive business in FY 2018. Panasonic and the Company are combining their respective technologies to jointly develop products such as electronic mirror systems, next-generation cockpit systems and ADAS, which will facilitate business expansion in the fields where future growth is anticipated. (From a press release on July 5, 2017)
Business Partnership
-The Company is partnering with Karamba Security to harden its Telematics Control Unit (TCU) and keep vehicles protected from cyberattacks when communicating with the internet. The Company, through Onboard Ventures, its Open Innovation initiative, has identified Karamba Security’s Carwall solution as an effective hardening software that is seamlessly integrated into vehicle ECUs, without disrupting the development process or delaying the vehicle’s time to market. With Karamba’s Embedded Runtime Integrity solution, the Company will propose self-protected ECUs to its OEM customers that will deterministically prevent cyberattacks, without false positive alerts or major investments in costly data analytics and security updates. (From a press release on December 5, 2018)
Contracts
-The Company has developed the digital rear-view system of the Audi e-tron, which will launch in late 2018. The digital rear-view system, which uses cameras and displays instead of traditional external side mirrors, provides a new driving experience that is safer, more efficient and more comfortable. This system has been developed and manufactured at the Viladecavalls Technology Centre in Spain and the Wolfenbuttel Centre in Germany. (From a press release on September 28, 2018)
-The Company has closed five important contracts for battery management systems (BMS) for the Chinese market. These orders, placed by two Tier One automobile manufacturers, are valued at over EUR 200 million and will be used for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. The Company’s battery management systems give users the required safety and allow them to monitor the battery charge level and health at all times. The software, hardware and mechanics for these orders are being developed at the Viladecavalls Technology Centre in Spain, while production, which will begin in 2019, will take place at the Taicang Technical Centre in China. (From a press release on February 23, 2018)
Awards
-The Company has been recognized by Toyota Motor Europe with the Value Analysis award. With this prize, the Japanese multinational recognizes the Company’s expertise and capacity to offer high-quality products, optimizing the ratio between function and cost, and eliminating costs that do not add value. Since 1998, the Company has developed and manufactured multiple solutions for Toyota at its production centers in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, China, Brazil, the U.S. and Mexico. These products include shifter systems, brake levers, mechanical cables, rear-view mirrors and windshield washing systems. (From a press release on July 9, 2018)
R&D Expenditure |
(in million EUR) |
| FY ended Dec. 31, 2017 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2016 | FY ended Dec. 31, 2015 | |
| Overall | 82.4 | 64.3 | 60.0 |
-The Company aims to invest at least 6% of its annual revenue in research and development each year to improve the Company.
R&D Facilities
-The Company has 14 research and development centers across the world located in the following countries:
- Brazil
- China
- France
- Germany
- India
- Japan
- Korea
- Mexico
- Portugal
- Spain
- Turkey
- U.S.
-The Company announced the inauguration of its new e-mobility hub, an international pioneering center for electric mobility technology. Located in Viladecavalls, Spain, the Company has invested more than EUR 10 million in the new 1,200-square-meter facility, employing more than 120 engineers, including 60 new hires. The e-mobility hub has four new laboratories certified by ASPICE, the ISO-Automotive SPICE regulations to develop mechatronic systems. At the center, the Company develops and manufactures software and hardware solutions for hybrid and electric vehicles, specifically battery management systems and on-board chargers. (From a press release on October 9, 2018)
R&D Structure
-As of December 31, 2017, the Company has 1,008 employees working in research and development, with 873 employees working in product engineering and 135 employees working in laboratory and prototypes.
Product Development
CarCom technology platform
-The Company will present its latest advanced communication solutions for vehicles, the CarCom technology platform, at the 2018 ITS World Congress. This development enables the integration of different connectivity solutions in a modular manner to enable the vehicle to directly communicate with new future mobility technologies that will define the future of mobility. These technologies include Cellular-V2X, high-precision positioning, antennas with digital synchronization, and 5G technology. The Company’s antennas product range will also be highlighted at ITS with the Flat Roof Antenna module, an innovative system that integrates multiple antennas. Benefits offered by this device include the reduction of several antennas individually, mounting only one module, resulting in reduced assembly costs and increased performance. (From a press release on September 19, 2018)
Telematics control unit
-Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic) announced that it started volume shipment of a telematics control unit (TCU), a new product jointly developed by its in-house company, Automotive & Industrial Systems Company, and Ficosa International S.A., from December 2017. The new product is Panasonic's first TCU and the second jointly developed product after an electric inner mirror that the company started shipping from September. (From an article in the Nikkan Jidosha Shimbun on January 16, 2018)
Patents
-As of December 31, 2017, the Company holds 685 active patents.
Investments outside Spain
<Portugal>
-The Company has invested EUR 5 million in expansion of Ficocables, a plant located in Maia, Portugal. The new 7,800-square-meter facility is fully built and expected to begin operations in January. The facility features newly created spaces equipped with the latest technology that meet high energy efficiency standards. These modernized spaces include technical offices, engineering rooms and laboratories. The facility, which includes a production plant and R&D center, provides cables to automakers and currently has more than 1,400 employees. (From a press release on December 19, 2018)
<Morocco>
-The Company has established itself in Africa for the first time, opening a new production center in the Technopolis free zone in Rabat, Morocco. With an investment of EUR 50 million, the new plant will employ 700 people and post an estimated yearly turnover of EUR 150 million by 2022. The new plant, which has a total surface area of 12,000 square meters that can be expanded to 17,000, will act as a center of excellence in cameras, where the Company will develop and produce highly complex vision systems for future cars. These facilities will also produce electric cable sets and manufacture traditional products for the local market, such as rear-view mirrors, shifter systems and washer systems. (From a press release on March 20, 2018)