Automotive News Europe - September 2011 - 72

Q A
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LAURENT BRESSON

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

SUPPLIERS

NEXTEER STEERS TO SUCCESS
Former GM-owned supplier expands in Europe

oosted by soaring demand for its steering and driveline systems products, especially electric power steering, Nexteer Automotive is expanding in Europe. The former Delphi Corp. unit, which General Motors bought in 2009 and sold to China’s Pacific Century Motors in 2010, is investing more than 50 million euros into plants in Tychy and Gliwice, Poland. Nexteer is racing to get its infrastructure in Europe ready after a record 2010. As Nexteer’s vice president of global sales, Paris-based Laurent Bresson has played a major role in the company’s huge increase in business. Bresson, who is also head of Nexteer’s European operations, talked about what the supplier is doing to keep up the forward momentum in an interview with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc.

We are looking even more closely at having alternative ways to get parts if our suppliers get into trouble. We are looking at the value stream and trying to balance whether it makes sense to buy a particular part from just one location, especially if it comes from, for instance, a low-cost country in Asia Pacific.
What is your rate of r&d measured against revenue?

MEET THE BOSS
❙ NAME: Laurent Bresson ❙ TITLE: Vice president of

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What is your biggest challenge?

After our record bookings, perfect execution is the greatest challenge. Everyone is familiar with the recent high-profile automotive recalls. As a result, our customers have exceptionally high standards. We are aiming for zero customer returns. We also are working to strengthen our supply chain. The Japan earthquake showed how vulnerable the automotive industry can be. We were not affected very much, however, when something like that happens you reassess your entire supply chain.
What are you doing differently in the aftermath of the quake?

It is at about the industry level. That means about 6 percent to 8 percent depending on year and the growth. Of course, because of our record bookings in 2010 we increased our 2011 engineering budget by 30 percent or about $40 million. We are also increasing the size of our technical teams all around the world. A significant portion of the new contracts we have won are for electric power steering, which is engineering intensive when it comes to research. That means in 2011 we will be on the high end of the range when it comes to r&d measured against revenue.
How do you differentiate yourself from the competition?

the European region; vice president of global sales & marketing ❙ AGE: 40 ❙ BORN: Troyes, France ❙ BASED: Paris ❙ NATIONALITY: French ❙ LANGUAGES: French, English ❙ MAIN CHALLENGE: Boost organic growth; ensure perfect execution of new production contracts

Are you planning to diversify your product portfolio?

During our more than 100 years in business we have spent a lot of time as part of an OEM. Therefore we really understand the requirements when it comes to the steering and driveline in vehicles. We have a full range of products and speak the same language as engineers from the OEM side. We also do our software development in-house. This is a great asset when it comes to tuning the characteristics in a steering system.

We are absolutely focused on steering and driveline. We are introducing new products and doing a lot to improve efficiency, reduce weight and make the systems better and more affordable. We live from chassis and driveline products. It’s in our DNA.
Are you also planning to expand geographically?

COMPANY DETAILS
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NAME: Nexteer Automotive GLOBAL HEADQUARTERS: Saginaw, Michigan, USA EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS: Paris, France OWNERS: Pacific Century Motors (sold by GM in 2010) PORTFOLIO: Electric power steering, hydraulic power

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steering, steering columns, halfshafts
❙ CUSTOMERS: GM, Ford, Chrysler, Fiat, Toyota, PSA, ❙ COMPETITORS: GKN Driveline, JTEKT Corp., Mando

Renault, others Corp., NTN Corp., TRW Automotive Holdings

Corp., ZF Friedrichshafen AG
❙ ❙ ❙ ❙ HEADCOUNT: 9,800 PLANTS: 20 REVENUE 2010: $2.0 billion STRATEGIC GOALS: Meet production

and quality demands from $6 billion worth of new bookings in 2010; complete 50 million euro expansion of Poland plants; strengthen supply chain

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We have 20 manufacturing sites and right now we are expanding capacity and building new plants around the world. In Europe, we are investing heavily – more than 50 million euros from 2009 to 2012 – to introduce our next generation of products and to meet demand from existing and new customers.
What about acquisitions?

“We had a record $6 billion of lifetime bookings (in 2010), which is three times the company’s revenue.”

Our owners are really focused on growth so my No. 1 priority is to have strong organic growth. At the same time, we are well funded so we will take a serious look at the right opportunity if it comes along.
You have 9,800 employees, will you need to add staff?

I would say that we will surpass the 10,000 employee threshold pretty soon. In terms of the growth, obviously, we are growing fastest in emerging markets such as South America, Mexico and Asia, but we are also going to increase the work force in Europe. ■
SEPTEMBER 2011

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Automotive News Europe - September 2011

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