Nanterre, France-headquartered Faurecia has announced the creation of a new division to develop and manufacture cutting-edge sustainable and smart materials.
The new division is expected to benefit from Faurecia’s market positions in Interiors and Seatings businesses, and its unique portfolios in materials with ultra-low and negative CO2 emissions, as well as materials integrating thermal, acoustic and bio-medical technologies.
The leading global automotive technology company expects the new Sustainable Materials division to leverage Faurecia’s global footprint, and work across business groups, and propose a full cockpit low CO2 and even CO2 negative materials approach to OEMs in order to support their sustainability objectives.
In a statement issued earlier today, Faurecia said it will capitalise on its experiences of formulating bio-sourced materials and their transformation expertise, including low variability management.
The company is planning to build a dedicated Sustainable Materials R&D centre and a pilot plant, scheduled to be operational in 2022. This new entity will initially employ 125 engineers and over 400 in 2030, the statement said.
“With decades of experience in the development of bio-sourced materials, Faurecia plans to increase its contribution to the fight against climate change by investing significantly in the development of materials with very low CO2 footprints,” said Patrick Koller, Chief Executive Officer, Faurecia.
Koller further said the new division, together with an industrial and academic ecosystem, will help Faurecia achieve sales targets of €3 billion by 2030 in this field, foster sustainable growth, and support efforts to meet its 2030 CO2 reduction commitments.