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Autoneum Annual Report 2016
Business Year at a Glance
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Investments in growth markets
A key success factor for Autoneum is the
Company’s global presence geared to the needs
of its customers with around 50 production
sites throughout the world. In 2016, Autoneum
invested specifically in expanding capacities in
growth markets. The Company has significantly
increased its local production capacities in
Mexico with a further plant in San Luis Potosí
and thereby responded to the strong demand
for lightweight noise and heat protection compo-
nents. From early 2017, the new 27000 square-
meter plant will be supplying carpet systems,
inner dashes and floor insulators to US and
German OEMs producing locally for the North
American market. In August 2016, due to
additional high-volume orders from existing and
new customers, the foundation stone was laid
for a second plant at the same location. Under-
body systems, carpets and heatshields for
German, US and Japanese OEMs will be produced
on an additional 19000 square meters from
2018. Autoneum will have created more than
400 new jobs at these plants by 2020.
Customer demand also required a capacity
expansion in the USA, as the main North
American market: The floor space of the existing
plant in Aiken, North Carolina, was almost
doubled in size to 30000 square meters and the
entire machinery renewed on the basis of
state-of-the-art production standards. Autoneum
is also expanding its presence in China, the
world’s largest automobile market, and has
started construction on a further plant for the
production of lightweight components in the
eastern Chinese city of Yantai in the Province of
Shandong. Just-in-time delivery of carpet
systems and inner dashes to vehicle manufac-
turers at their nearby production facilities
will start in summer 2017. As part of the global
implementation of sustainable production
processes at all Autoneum sites, production
waste in the form of polyester or mixed fiber
fleece is to be recycled and reused in the
manufacture of components at the new facility
in Yantai. This investment in a further plant in
China will enable customers to receive compo-
nents and systems with significantly lower
logistics costs. At the same time, this expansion
of Chinese production capacities in line with
strategy will contribute to targeted market share
gains in China.
The long-term customer relationships of
Autoneum are reflected in the many customer
awards that the Company receives each year
for its products and order implementation at the
production facilities. Autoneum’s position as
a technology leader also received special recog-
nition in 2016: Back in March, General Motors
(GM) singled out Autoneum as the first-ever
“Supplier Innovation Award” winner for
Prime-Light, the latest lightweight noise-
reducing technology for inner dashes and floor
insulators. Only five GM suppliers among
thousands globally are presented with the
“Supplier Innovation Award” for innovations
that particularly benefit the car manufacturer’s
customers. Further tokens of appreciation for
Autoneum as a reliable partner of OEMs during
the reporting year were the “Best Plant
Award” from PSA for the Polish plant in
Katowice, the “Excellence Supplier Award”
from GAC Fiat for the Chinese plant in Taicang,
the “Appreciation Award” from Hyundai for
Autoneum Behror in India and Honda’s “Honor
of Distinction” award for the UGN plant in
Monroe (Ohio), USA.