Questionsto
FrançoisLIOTARD
CEOofLISIAUTOMOTIVE
What is thebreakdownofLISIAUTOMOTIVEsales?
_Our threeproduct lines fareddifferently in2013.Salesof
mechanical componentswereespeciallystrong,and increased
6.3%.Theyweremotoredbothbygrowth in theworldmarket
andby the increase in theamountof safetyequipment in
vehicles,suchasairbags,electricbrakes,ABSandsafetybeltpre-
tensioners.Salesof clipped fastenersgrew3%,especiallydue to
our stronggrowth inChina (up 18%).However,salesof threaded
fastenersdropped4%.This lastproduct line isclosely tied to
theperformanceof the twoFrenchmanufacturers.Lastly,we
have totallypulledoutof theelectricscrewsmarket (industrial),
whichhadbecome toocompetitive.
Whereare thegrowthopportunities?
_
Mechanical componentswill remainastrongsourceof
growth for theLISIAUTOMOTIVEdivision,especiallywith
thedevelopmentofnewgenerationsof seatmechanisms
that requirenewcomponents.Wehaveby thewaypostedan
important firstorder fromaChinesepartsmanufacturer for
brakingcomponents thatwillbeproducedatourShanghai site.
Andstillwithmechanical components,veryadvancedcontracts
withKoreanpartsmanufacturers representvery interesting
opportunities.
Theclipped fastenersbusinessalsoought to remain focused
withbothpartsandvehiclemanufacturers.Thedevelopment
ofan innovativeproduct line forholdingwiringwillbeamajor
growtharea in thesecondhalfof2014.Ourmainstrategy
for threaded fasteners is toacquiremarket shareamong the
Germancarmanufacturers.
LISI 2013
57
Mechanical components
remainamain
sourceofgrowth
for theLISIAUTOMOTIVE
division.
84
million
vehiclessoldworldwide
+ 14,2%
GrowthoftheChinese
market in2013
Volumestrategiestoabsorbcosts
This race for volumes is crucial for thegeneral-purposemanufacturers.
It helps financenewdevelopments that involve thenewenvironmental
regulationswhile helping set up factories in emergingmarkets (Asia,
SouthAmerica etc). The coreof this strategy aremodular platforms for
cost optimization, which spread the development costs over a large
numberofmodels,whosestructuresandassembly linesshareacommon
architecture.
