September, 17, 2014 - The R & D Center Seating is Faurecia´s first one in South America and has facilities that enable the creation of unique seats for various automakers.

Faurecia, the seventh largest global supplier of automotive equipments, opened on September 17 its center for automotive seating technology - the R & D Center Seating - in the brazilian city of Quatro Barras, state of Paraná. The new center has received an investment of 1 million euros and is the only one in South America to offer advanced facilities for the development of automotive seats, from the early stages of design, style and product definition, prototyping and implementation of processes to the regulatory validation of the products.

According to the director of R & D Center Seating, Patrick Lehner, Faurecia is currently a supplier of automotive seating and mechanisms for seats to brazilian automotive plants of Volkswagen, Renault, Peugeot, Fiat and Ford. "We are fully trained to meet regional demands of customers who want customizations that require unique methods and specific raw materials".

"Our engineering group has all the resources to handle the needs of the various markets where our clients operate. With this technology center, we reaffirm the autonomy we have for the development of automotive seats", says Lehner.

The R & D Center Seating consolidates the technological leadership achieved by the company in South America and enhances the services provided by Faurecia in other countries in the region. The technology center in Quatro Barras is parte of a global community of the group, which allows engineers operating in Brazil to be aligned with Faurecia´s staff in other engineering centers worldwide.

Operations in Brazil and South America

With 23 industrial plants in South America - 17 in Brazil, five in Argentina and one in Uruguay - the company chose the city of São Bernardo do Campo (SP) as the administrative base for its South American operations. Altogether, Faurecia employs over 4,000 employees in Brazil, 1,100 in Argentina and 300 in Uruguay.

In 2013, Faurecia group had total sales of 18 billion euros. On December 31, 2013, Faurecia employed 97,500 people in 34 countries and 320 units, including 30 Research & Development Centers.

Source: Faurecia