Faurecia Takes 18.75% Stake in Xuyang Group, China

NANTERRE, FRANCE – July 2, 2010: Faurecia has announced the signing of an agreement with the Municipality of Changchun (Jilin Province) and with the Xuyang Group, an automotive equipment supplier in which it holds a majority stake, in order to accelerate the development of its activities in China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Faurecia will take an 18.75% stake in the capital of Xuyang Group, via a reserved capital increase, thus becoming the strategic shareholder of this equipment supplier, which is one of the main suppliers to China’s first car manufacturer, the FAW Group (First Auto Works), and its international affiliates, among which FAW-VW (Audi and Volkswagen).

The agreement between Faurecia and Xuyang Group broadens the scope of product and services supplied by Faurecia in three strategic areas:

Complete seats: this field will be covered by the joint-venture Changchun Faurecia Xuyang Automotive Seat Co. Ltd (CFXAS), specialized in seat frames and owned 60% by Faurecia and 40% by Xuyang Group;

Interior systems, building on Faurecia’s Interior Systems’ existing plant in Changchun which becomes a joint-venture held 60% by Faurecia and 40% by Xuyang Group;

Acoustic modules and interior trim, an area covered by the Xuyang Group plants which will be brought to the joint-venture held 40% by Faurecia and 60% by Xuyang Group.

Faurecia and Xuyang Group have finalized the agreement today during a ceremony in presence of Messrs. Zhuji WANG, Vice-governor of Jilin Province, Yejing ZHU, President of the People’s Municipal Assembly of Changchun, Jie CUI, Mayor of the Municipality of Changchun and Yann Delabrière, Chairman & CEO of Faurecia.

The city of Changchun is one of the main automobile production centers in China, with the presence of FAW and its joint-ventures with Volkswagen, Toyota and GM, producing some 1.5 million vehicles in 2009, with an objective of 2 million vehicles per year from 2011 and 3 million per year in five years time.

China is a strategic area for the development of Faurecia. The Group is present through 17 plants and four R&D centers, with some 4,000 employees. It achieved 2009 sales of EUR 670 million. In 2014, Faurecia targets EUR 1.7 billion sales in China, with Asia accounting for 15% of Group sales versus 7% in 2009.