Hella And Mando Found Joint Venture In Korea

LIPPSTADT/SEOUL – October 22, 2008: The automotive supplier Hella KGaA Hueck & Co., Lippstadt and the Korean automotive supplier Mando Corp., Seoul bundle their specific competencies in the fields of chassis systems, chassis electronics and driver assistance systems for the Korean market in a joint corporation. By this means the partners open up manifold synergies with respect to the development of new generations of active passenger car safety systems.

The foundation of the joint venture was announced on October 16, 2008 in Seoul. The joint venture is primarily focused on Korean car manufacturers and both partners are involved each with a share of 50%. Mando Hella Electronics will be headquartered close to the Korean capital of Seoul and will have an investment volume of 65,000 billion Korean Won (45 million Euros). Start of construction of the production faccility is planned for beginning of 2009.

As Dr. Jürgen Behrend, Chairman and President of Hella KGaA Hueck & Co. and Mong Won Chung, Chairman of Mando Corp. / Halla Group, explained on the occasion of the signing of the joint venture agreement, the basis for the good relations between both partners was already set in the 1990s. At that time Mando and Hella closely worked together in the field of anti-lock-braking systems (ABS). "After this successful collaboration it is only consequent to bring together Mando's competencies in the field of chassis systems and Hella's competencies in the field of automotive electronics in order to jointly develop innovative passenger car safety systems dedicated to Korean car manufacturers", Dr. Behrend emphasized.