TEMIC Announces Sales
25 February 1998
TEMIC Increases Sales by 53% on the NAFTA Market - ABS Control Systems the Main Source of Revenue
DETROIT, Feb. 25 -- TEMIC increased sales in the United
States by 53 percent, to more than $120 million, in the 1997 business year --
mostly because of demand for its ABS control systems.
"A fifth of our sales are in North America at the moment, and we will be
continuing to increase this figure in the years ahead," said Dieter Schulze,
TEMIC executive vice president and head of the automotive electronics
division, at a news conference held in connection with SAE '98 in Detroit.
TEMIC is growing in the U.S. market where it is anticipating an additional
45 percent increase in sales -- to $174 million -- in the current business
year.
TEMIC will supply $135 million this year in ABS control equipment to Ford
and Chrysler. With Magna and its subsidiary Invotronics, TEMIC has obtained a
$200 million order to supply comfort electronics to GM Truck beginning in
2001. An agreement also has been made between VW Mexico and TEMIC to deliver
cooling fans worth more than $20 million over the next three years.
To reflect this growth, TEMIC Automotive of North America Inc., a
technical facility, opened in Troy at the beginning of this year. About 30
engineers form a link between the development facilities in Europe and TEMIC's
customers in America.
TEMIC's biggest customers in North America are Ford and Chrysler. Other
major customers include Mazda and Toyota, and European manufacturers Daimler-
Benz, BMW and Volkswagen.
TEMIC supplied $100 million worth of ABS products to Ford and Chrysler in
1997, in cooperation with its system partner ITT. Last year TEMIC succeeded
in taking over Motorola's share of ABS electronics at ITT. Now more than two
thirds of ITT's anti-blocking systems operate with electronics from TEMIC.
In 1997, TEMIC's global sales equaled $650 million, an increase of 52
percent from 1996. The company has six product groups: active safety,
powertrain and chassis, sensor systems, body electronic, passive safety and
electric motors. TEMIC's subsidiary ADC (Automotive Distance Control Systems
GmbH), focuses on modern distance control systems. TEMIC holds a 70 percent
interest in ADC.
One of TEMIC's key plants is in Cuautla, Mexico. More than 550 employees
produce comfort and air bag electronics, ignition units and engine cooling
systems, ABS control units and cooling fans at this facility. In 1997, to
meet an increase in demand, TEMIC put two new production lines for cooling
fans and ABS control units into operation.
TEMIC supplied VW Mexico with ignition and engine control systems worth
more than $10 million last year. VW also bought small numbers of cooling fans
from TEMIC in 1997. TEMIC is the developmental supplier of cooling fans to
Mercedes-Benz for the M-class from Tuscaloosa, Ala., and supplied air bag
control units worth almost $3 million to BMW's Z3 production facility in the
United States.
Schulze emphasized the high speed at which the electronics industry
completes developmental cycles and pointed out that TEMIC already introduces
new generations of ABS and air bags each year.
"In 1997 we generated 42 percent of our sales with products that are less
than two years old," Schulze said. New products again will increase TEMIC's
sales in the current business year.
At this year's SAE Congress, the TEMIC display includes product
developments that increase comfort and make driving safer. Among these:
* ABS control units that incorporate ESP functions and help stabilize a
vehicle in critical situations.
* A passenger compartment data bus that uses the decentralization of
functions to reduce the number of cable harnesses in automobiles.
* Air bag electronics that have the ability to detect when the vehicle is
in danger of turning over, and also make it possible to inflate the air
bag in stages.
* Brushless fan motors that are controlled electronically and are
considered more compact than their predecessors.
* A distance warning radar, combined with a smart cruise control system to
assure the correct distance is maintained from the vehicle in front.
TEMIC is the automotive specialist in the Daimler-Benz Group. TEMIC
focuses on electronic systems that improve safety and make driving easier.
TEMIC has production facilities in Europe, North America and Asia. Its
factories are located in Nuremberg, Ingolstadt, Friedrichshafen, Berlin and
Haldensleben, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary; Manila, Philippines; Shanghai,
China; and Cuautla, Mexico. TEMIC also has a technical facility in Troy,
Michigan. TEMIC has 3,800 employees worldwide and sales of $650 million in
1997. The company's customers include most of the world's automobile
manufacturers.
SOURCE TEMIC