The 173-year-old global technology group, Freudenberg, has posted sales of € 10.04 billion worth of sales globally in 2021, with 32.4% of sales coming from the younger products, Georg Graf, Freudenberg Group, Regional Representative, India, stated during a press conference.
This represents a 14%, YoY growth for the group compared to 2020. Furthermore, the operating profit for the company also grew by 31% YoY in 2021 to € 877.3 million, he added.
Graf added that most of the sales were from the automotive OEMs business, constituting about 39% of the total sales. While in terms of region, Europe, excluding Germany, contributed about 24% of the global sales, followed by Asia with 23%. India meanwhile had a share of 3% of the total sales, he added.
He further noted that a total of € 500.2 million was invested into the company during the FY21, out of which 5% went to the R&D sector, which employs 3,664 researchers and developers.
The company recently introduced the 11th vertical of the business in the form of the Battery and Fuel Cell Business unit. Under this, buses, trucks and shipping applications are being developed, including a high-performance fuel cell system for long-distance buses, which may be combined with a battery to create a hybrid system.
The company also noted that it is also working on fuel cell systems for use on ocean-going passenger liners in partnership with Meyer Werft in Papenburg.
Graf also noted that the group aims to attain climate neutrality by 2045. In view of this, it managed 21% of the total energy consumption coming from green energy sources.
Additionally, last year, the company focused on electrifying energy demand and obtaining all required electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar and hydroelectric power.
Freudenberg has a global employee pool of about 50,000 employees, including 6,800 new employees who joined during FY21.
Talking about the India business operations, the Regional Representative noted that the Q4 sales in 2021 grew by 32%, YoY. The Indian entity of the brand closed the fiscal with sales of € 322 million with an operating profit of € 42.3 million.
The company showcased its first FCEV bus designed and made in India. It plans to use its micronAir filters to help keep the fuel cells running in tough weather conditions and exposure to pollutants such as ammonia, allowing the bus for a claimed range of 600 kms on a single tank of hydrogen.
Outlook
The company expects the macro-economic and geopolitical environments to remain uncertain. Additionally, the war in Ukraine and the embargo measures that have been taken are expected to cause significant disruption to global supply chains with direct and indirect effects on the group.
The company said that this would be reflected in limited product availability, particularly in raw materials and supplier parts, as well as in across-the-board increases in energy and logistics costs.