FORVIA deepens cooperation with BYD and plans to build a new seat assembly plant in Thailand

FORVIA, the world’s seventh largest automotive technology supplier, will join hands with BYD to build a new advanced seat assembly plant in Rayong, Thailand. The new factory will carry out complete chair production under the name of Shenzhen Faurecia Auto Parts Co., Ltd., a joint venture between BYD and Faurecia in 2017, with FORVIA holding a majority stake.

This strategic leap strengthens the global technology partnership between FORVIA and Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, and will further advance the development of both companies in the Asia-Pacific market. So far, the cooperation between the two parties has achieved impressive results, and jointly established 7 cutting-edge factories in China, including 4 factories established in the past 18 months.

FORVIA’s introduction of its car seat business into the Thai market is a powerful milestone, further improving the group’s existing industrial layout in Thailand, covering automotive interiors, automotive electronics and smart mobility.

Mr. Frank Huber, Executive Vice President of the Automotive Seating Division, said: “We are very pleased to be able to start the automotive seating business in Thailand and at the same time strengthen the strategic alliance with BYD. Thailand will become our export center in the Asia-Pacific region, and Asia-Pacific The region is an important growth engine for our future success.”

Mr. Patrick Koller, Chief Executive Officer of FORVIA, pointed out: “FORVIA believes that developing new projects on the basis of existing partnerships is the key to strengthening customer relationships. The joint decision to build a new factory in Thailand is a great success.” Benefiting from the support of Thailand’s existing strong logistics and export infrastructure, as well as our long-term industrial layout in Thailand, this decision also follows FORVIA’s strategy of establishing a balanced portfolio at the customer, technology and geographical levels. The factory will further Driving our growth in the Asia-Pacific region, which is expected to account for 57 percent of global automotive industry growth over the next 15 years.”

Strong Presence in Asia

FORVIA has more than 40,000 employees across Asia. In 2022, the Group’s sales in the region will exceed 6.7 billion euros, accounting for 27% of FORVIA’s total sales. The Asian market is promising: Asia (excluding India) is expected to account for 50% of global vehicle production by 2025.

BYD, an important strategic customer and partner of FORVIA

The cooperation between FORVIA and BYD is one of the most outstanding achievements of French companies and Chinese private companies in the automotive industry. The cooperation began in 2017. Based on a solid industrial layout, the two parties achieved an annual output of 2.6 million seats and set up a research and development center in Shenzhen. Based on the spirit of long-term strategic cooperation and mutual benefit, the cooperation between the two parties focuses on the megatrends of the automotive industry to support the decarbonization goals of Europe and China, and to build joint solutions for sustainable and economical transportation between China and France And provide important support for the industrialization development of both parties in Europe.