Editorial: Changes in the global automotive interiors business

Extensive restructuring and consolidation have taken place in recent years among manufacturers of fabrics and finished components for automotive interiors. This reflects the geographical shift in vehicle manufacturing operations from high cost countries to lower cost countries in Europe and in developing countries. In China, production of cars and light vehicles climbed by 74% between 2009 and 2014 after soaring by 45% in 2009 alone. The restructuring and consolidation also reflect a striving among the major vehicle manufacturers – or original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) – for standardisation in order to achieve economies of scale. At the same time, the OEMs are demanding that their suppliers – known as tier 1 companies – ship larger, finished component assemblies to their manufacturing plants. In response, tier 1 companies are exerting more power on their suppliers and partnering with bigger companies with global operations rather than relying on networks of regional suppliers. In this report, Robin Anson discusses the impact of consolidations on the industry, and focuses on a number of leading suppliers of automotive interiors, including Ames Europe, Aunde (Aunde Achter & Ebels – AA&E), Fehrer, Grupo Antolin, Magna International, Miko, Sage Automotive Interiors, Yanfeng Automotive Interiors and Visteon.

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