Source: Gasgoo
Cie Plastic Omnium, the French auto-parts supplier, is renaming and increasing its investment in the United States as part of a comprehensive overhaul aimed at offer new electric and hydrogen-powered vehicle technologies for customers such as Tesla, BYD, and Alstom of France.
CEO Laurent Favre said that the company will inaugurate a new plant in Austin, Texas, next month and plans to invest in a production site in Michigan after winning U.S. orders for parts in hydrogen-powered vehicles. He expects the company’s revenue from the United States to double by 2028. In 2023, the company’s revenue in the United States was 1.6 billion euros, accounting for 14 percent of the group’s total sales.
“Obviously, we want to invest more outside of Europe. Since the energy and labor costs are high and regulation is excessive in Europe, making our company less competitive,” Favre said. Although the company are gaining market share, we are still often frustrated in the European market. We need to reduce our dependence on the region and on certain customers.
Image source: Plastic Omnium
This company is the supplier of automotive equipment such as bumpers and front lamp. In 2018, the company sold its plastic bin business to focus on hydrogen storage tanks. In the future, the company will change its name to OPmobility to emphasize the diversity of its customer base, which currently includes companies such as vans, trucks, trains and even aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Favre said the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles in Europe was hurting the company’s customers. “Once subsidies for electric vehicles are removed, the production of such models will drop dramatically,” he said.
Favre believes the growth of internal combustion engine vehicles in the U.S. will remain strong for the foreseeable future. “The US is our most solid market for the future,” he said. “
