NANTERRE, Franceand AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its continued growth in North America and commitment to its long-term customer Ford Motor Company, Faurecia today announced that it will acquire the Saline, Mich. (USA), interior components business, which is currently operated by Automotive Components Holdings, LLC (ACH). With this acquisition, Faurecia, already the world's leading supplier of interior systems components, will become North America's No. 1 interior systems supplier.
Faurecia will acquire the Saline business, which generates $1.1 billion annual sales [euro 835 million] supplying cockpit modules, instrument panels, door panels and center consoles for 12 vehicle programs assembled at eight Ford plants throughout North America. With this acquisition, Faurecia's objective is to create a new operation that is optimized for efficient production, in line with the Faurecia Excellence System.
In conjunction with the Saline acquisition, Faurecia will enter into a new joint venture with Rush Group Ltd., one of the Rush Group of companies that together comprise one of the largest Native American and woman-owned businesses in North America. The joint venture, called Detroit Manufacturing Systems (DMS), will do injection molding, assembly and sequencing of interior trim components from a new facility in Detroit. Rush Group will hold the majority of the capital and the management of DMS, while Faurecia - with 45% of the capital - will bring its technology and manufacturing expertise to the joint-venture. As a result, the Saline plant will focus in the future on core technologies such as injection molding, skin manufacturing and foaming operations with annual revenues of nearly $400 million [euro 300 million].
This deal will have no significant impact on Faurecia's debt and cash position.
With this acquisition, Ford Motor Company will become Faurecia's third largest customer. Faurecia will thus reinforce its position as part of Ford's Aligned Business Framework (ABF), which it joined in June 2009. ABF companies enter into long-term relationships with Ford to strengthen collaboration and drive mutual profitability and technology development.
The target date for transitioning the Saline operation is June 1, 2012. Operations transitioning to the DMS facility will begin transferring this summer.
"The acquisition reinforces our leadership position in interior systems and our global partnership with Ford Motor Company," said Yann Delabriere, Chairman and CEO of Faurecia. "The Saline business strategically fits with Faurecia's key priorities, directly tying to our core focus, continuous improvement in operating performance, global customer expansion, technology leadership and strategic growth plans."
"We see this acquisition and joint venture providing tremendous opportunities for Faurecia, Ford, employees, local communities and other key stakeholders," said Mike Heneka, President of Faurecia North America. "As we transform the Saline business and help launch a new plant in Detroit, we will foster a collaborative working environment, strengthen our relationship with Ford and invest in these communities."
"Our ABF network of suppliers is built on long-term relationships and collaboration for the mutual benefit of Ford and our suppliers," said Tony Brown, Group Vice President, Ford Global Purchasing. "With this announcement, Faurecia is not only serving a critical business need for Ford - they are helping to provide leadership in our effort to build a financially healthy, diverse supply base."
Faurecia will hold a conference call/webcast for analysts, investors and media with Frank Imbert, CFO, on May 3, 2012 at 8:00 a.m. EDT (2:00 p.m. Paris time, 1:00 p.m. UK time). Slides for this conference call will be available for download, 30 minutes prior to the start of the call, at:
www.faurecia.com/shareholders-investors/financial-publications/Pages/financial-presentations.aspx
Dial-in numbers:
Paris (France): +33 (0)1 70 99 42 70
London (UK): +44 (0)207 136 2055
USA (New York): +1 212 444 0896
The conference call will be followed by a Q&A session. Participants may also follow this call as a webcast (listen only) by clicking here:
www.thomson-webcast.net/uk/dispatching/?event_id=e651a63f280446ae05ffc5977f237fa8&portal_id=68b00c457d2149533cdf5b0f1a1ed597
Note: To help ensure the conference begins in a timely manner, participants should dial in at least 10 minutes prior to the scheduled start time.
About Faurecia
Faurecia is the world's sixth-largest automotive equipment supplier with four key Business Groups: Automotive Seating, Emissions Control Technologies, Interior Systems and Automotive Exteriors. In 2011, the Group posted total sales of euro 16.2 billion ($22.5 billion). At December 31, 2011, Faurecia employed 84,000 people in 33 countries at 270 sites and 40 R&D centers. Faurecia is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange. For more information, visit: www.faurecia.com
About Faurecia North America
Faurecia North America had sales of $4.8 billion in 2011. The Group has 36 production sites in the United States, Canada and Mexico and employs more than 16,000 people in the region. It has five technical and development centers, situated in Auburn Hills (2), Holland and Troy, Mich., and in Columbus, Ind., as well as a customer center in Toledo, Ohio. For the latest updates on Faurecia activities throughout North America, connect with the company at: http://www.facebook.com/faureciaNA and http://www.twitter.com/faurecia_NA.
SOURCE Faurecia
