IAC (International Automotive Components) Group Business Report FY ended Dec. 2016
Recent Years
Financial Overview
-In the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, the Company had sales of approximately USD 6.0 billion. The Company had sales of USD 3.3 billion in North America, USD 2.3 billion in Europe, and USD 400 million in Asia.
-In 2015, the Company was the second largest injection molding company in North America, with USD 1,947 million in injection molding sales.
Joint Ventures
-The Company and Shanghai Shenda Co. Ltd. announced that it is signing a definitive agreement to form a global joint venture partnership to supply soft trim and acoustics products to automotive original equipment manufacturers. A UK affiliate of Shenda will acquire a 70% stake in the UK-based joint venture based at an enterprise value of USD $570 million. The Company will maintain a 30% interest. The joint venture, which will be named at a later date, expands the partnership between the Company and Shenda spanning nearly two decades. The joint venture is expected to generate more than USD 1 billion in annual sales from floor carpets, acoustic insulators, package trays, trunk trim and utility flooring products. (From a press release on December 21, 2016)
Restructuring
-APM Automotive (APM) announced that Auto Parts Holdings (APH), its wholly owned subsidiary, has completed the acquisition of 40% of the total issued and paid-up share capital of APM IAC Automotive Systems (APM IAC) held by the Company on May 31, 2016. Consequential to the above, APM IAC has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of APM. APM IAC was incorporated on November 25 2011 as a joint venture vehicle when APH and the Company entered into a joint venture agreement on November 1 2011 for the purpose of joint participation in the manufacture and sale of automotive interior plastic components and systems to the domestic and international OEMs in Malaysia. This acquisition is aimed towards giving the APM Group a better competitive edge as it would be able to offer complete interior solutions to both local and overseas customers. (From a press release on May 30, 2016)
Contracts
-The Company’s products are featured in nine of the Ward’s 10 Best Interiors award winners for 2016. The vehicle models featuring the Company’s products are as follows:
- BMW 7-Series: Overhead/headliner, soft trim, acoustics insulation
- Cadillac XT5: Overhead/headliner
- Chevrolet Camaro: Instrument panel, overhead/headliner, door panels, console
- Chrysler Pacifica: Overhead/headliner, soft trim
- Honda Civic: Acoustic insulation
- Lexus RX: Overhead/headliner
- Mercedes-Benz GLC: Soft trim and acoustic insulation
- Nissan Maxima: Door panels and overhead/headliner
- Volvo XC90: Instrument panel and door panels
(From a press release on May 9, 2016)
-The Company has launched its FiberFrame lightweight, natural fiber sun roof frame on the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The innovation is made of 70% renewable raw material content and provides up to 50% in weight savings compared to conventional metal-reinforced steel sunroof frames. FiberFrame began production in November 2015 at the Company's Center of Excellence for overhead products in Prestice, Czech Republic. The Company also produces the headliner, the outer-rear wheel house liner, inner wheel house cover and rear seat cover for the vehicle. (From a press release on April 4, 2016)
-An emerging trend for premium vehicles is the prevalence of superior craftsmanship within the interior. The Company has supported this trend by providing components and systems for European SUVs. The Company provides leather and vinyl wrapped instrument panels and center consoles for the "Range Rover Evoque" and "Discovery Sport". The Company also supplies the instrument panel, door panels, pillars, luggage trim, concealing panels, and complete cockpit for the Volvo "XC90". (From a press release on March 18, 2015)
Awards
-The Company’s FiberFrame product was selected as a finalist in the 2017 PACE Awards program. The FiberFrame system replaces the sunroof’s metal reinforcement frame with a lighter frame that uses natural fibers featuring a material comprised of 70% renewable content while still improving the frame’s structural rigidity. (From a press release on October 28, 2016)
R&D Facilities
-The Company has a total of 28 design, technical and commercial centers distributed around the world as follows:
- Europe: 12 facilities
- North America: 8 facilities
- Asia: 6 facilities
- Africa: 1 facility
- South America: 1 facility
Product Development
HybridFleece Molding process
-The Company announced that its advanced technology HybridFleece Molding scored impressively against conventional processes in the environmental balance from the Institute for Biopolymers and Biocomposites (IfBB) from the University for Applied Sciences of Hannover, Germany. HybridFleece Molding is a unique process for combining the pressing of a thermoplastic mixed fiber fleece from a natural fiber, glass or recycled carbon fiber with the molding of stiffening ribs and clips into a one-step process in the same molding tool without the need for additional welding or gluing. In order to compare HybridFleece Molding with conventional processes, the Company produced a door carrier concept and tested it against the serial SUV product it delivers to an OEM customer. In the present case, the concept door carrier delivers a mass reduction of 35% and 40% less emissions over the course of its lifetime. (From a press release on February 15, 2016)
Investment outside Luxembourg
-The Company announced that its new Prestice 2 production facility in Prestice, Czech Republic, is fully operational and has started producing its unique, lightweight injection molded inner dash insulation. The insulation provides superior interior acoustical performance and is supplied to two premium European OEM customers. With the start of a major door trim program in the future, the facility is expected to reach full capacity in 2018. The new 18,000-square-meter facility currently produces trunk trim and dash insulation components for the Opel Astra. The Company’s injection molded dash inner provides an estimated 40% weight reduction compared to a conventional vacuum-formed product. (From a press release on July 12, 2016)
-The Company announced the opening of its first South American plant in Itatiaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new 4,500-square-meter facility is expected to employ between 40 and 50 people when production reaches full capacity. It assembles and delivers highly crafted cockpits to Jaguar Land Rover do Brasil to support the production of the 2017 Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque premium SUVs. IAC Itatiaia assembles cockpit components provided by five of the Company’s United Kingdom (UK) facilities, which are located in Halewood, Elmdon, Sunderland, Scunthorpe and Coleshill. (From a press release on June 15, 2016)
-In October 2015, the Company announced the inauguration of a new manufacturing facility, Shanghai IAC-Songjiang Automotive Carpet and Acoustics Co., Ltd., located in Tianjin, China. The 5,200-square-meter (56,000 square feet) facility will employ more than 180 people and will manufacture vehicle flooring and acoustics systems and headliners, for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, including "GLC", "GLA", "C-Class" and "E-Class" models. The facility is scheduled to expand by another 4,300 square meters in 2016. (From a press release on October 22, 2015)
-On July 2015, the Company announced that it has established a new plant in Hangzhou, China. The plant was constructed on a 7,300-square-meter plot near the region’s logistics hub. It will employ 220 people, and will initially produce door panels and center console assemblies for Changan Ford, door trim components for SAIC GM, and instrument panels and center console components for Chery Jaguar Land Rover. (From a press release on July 15, 2015)
-In September 2015, the Company announced the expansion of its manufacturing footprint in support of customers in the United Kingdom. Company officials first dedicated a 6,700-square-meter (72,500 square feet) manufacturing facility, which complements the Company’s current Halewood operation. Production lines for headliner, center console and overhead system assembly have moved to the new facility, allowing for space in the first plant to enhance instrument panel and cockpit production and support increased complexity and production volumes. Company officials in the same day followed on with the dedication of a new 12,500-square-meter (135,000 square feet) facility in Elmdon near Birmingham, which hosts manufacturing, a design & technical center, and UK regional administrative functions. IAC Elmdon delivers instrument panel components and other interior hard trim components to IAC Halewood. The addition of these two facilities extends the Company’s capability to support its domestic and Asian OEM customers from five locations across the UK. IAC has increased the number of employees in the UK from approximately 700 in 2007 to over 2,200 today. (From a press release on September 21, 2015)
-On May 2015, the Company inaugurated its new manufacturing operation in Arteaga, Mexico. With the addition of the new 8,361-square-meter (90,000 square feet) Arteaga operation, the Company now has eight manufacturing sites in Mexico. The new IAC Arteaga plant, which currently employs approximately 320 people, will serve as a dedicated center of expertise for compression bonded cut, sewn and wrapped automotive interior components, including instrument panels, door panels, floor consoles, armrests and bolsters. (From a press release on May 26, 2015)