Magneti Marelli inks JV for auto lighting plant in China

Automotive Lighting, the Magneti Marelli company devoted to the automotive lighting sector, and Changchun Fudi Equipment Technology Development (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 metres, the plant with a total surface of 23,300 square metres 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,” said 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.”