Brose regards North America as a major market
Michael Stoschek (right), CEO of the Brose Group, Jan Kowal, President Brose North America, and at the annual press conference in Munich.
Over the past few years, the automotive supplier has developed consistently into a system integrator. According to Stoschek, the company’s growth is due to focusing primarily on the core business. Brose intends to entrench the products of the closure system business division, which the company acquired a year ago, even further on the market. Today, the corporate group possesses comprehensive expertise in vehicle doors and seats. Brose will continue to expand in these business segments on the North American market, too.
In order to realize this growth, Brose will be setting up three new production-sites in North America within the next one and a half years. In Auburn Hills/Detroit, the centre of the American automotive industry, the Brose North American Headquarters is to be established within the next twelve months. All activities on the North American market are to be coordinated from here. In addition to the plants in Querétaro and Puebla (Mexico), there will be new production-sites in Chicago, Tuscaloosa and London/Canada. “We will be investing some 100 million dollars over the next three years to help realize our growth,” said Michael Stoschek.
Brose, however, is also competing in a tough international competitive environment. While the global automotive industry has already seen significant consolidation, there is, in Michael Stoschek’s opinion, currently an unprecedented concentration process underway in the supplier industry. “We are experiencing a massive upheaval in this area,” said Stoschek. Within the next seven years, the number of automotive suppliers is expected to be halved, dropping to about 3,500 companies. This development presents tremendous growth prospects for financially sound and innovative suppliers who are globally active; higher order volumes will make it possible to reap the benefits of economies of scale and to improve production processes.
With an increase of 40 % by 2010, the automotive supplier industry will represent one of the strongest growth segments. One main reason for this will be the reduction in the levels of manufacturing at the OEMs, resulting in an ever-increasing product scope being passed on to systems suppliers.
This development is particularly apparent in North America: here Brose is executing a crucially strategic market entry in the area of seat adjusters. “ From 2005 on, we will be producing mechanical and power seat height adjusters at our new plant in London/Canada;” said Michael Stoschek, describing this development. By 2006, the company anticipates a turnover of 100 million dollars in this business division. The Brose innovative door system concept also continues to make an impact on the market, winning over an increasing number of automotive manufacturers. The turnover in this area in North America is expected to be about 200 million dollars in three years.
Smaller, lighter and more flexible: the new Brose closure system combines electronic and mechanical components. The closure system business boosts expertise in the automobile door.
