On April 18, 2024, Valeo China's 30th anniversary celebration of "30 Unbounded Wisdom for the Future" was held in Jingzhou, its first city in China. Valeo China management, representatives of the Jingzhou Municipal Government, representatives of the Consulate General of France in Wuhan and a number of partners attended the ceremony to witness the historic moment of Valeo's development in China.
Mr. Zhou Song, President of Valeo China, said at the ceremony: "Valeo, with a history of 100 years, is a leading position in the field of global mobility, since entering China in 1994, we have continued to cultivate the Chinese market in the past 30 years, and our business in China has experienced from 'Made in China' to 'Invent with' China)'s transformation has not only witnessed and participated in the rapid development of China's automotive industry, but also become an important part of China's automotive innovation ecosystem. In the future, we will continue to bring more innovative products and technologies to customers in China and around the world under the principle of being rooted in China and serving China. ”
During the event, the guests also witnessed the launch of Valeo's Jingzhou Vehicle Test Base for Comfort and Driver Assistance Systems. Valeo has cooperated with the Jingzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone Government to renovate and upgrade the old runway, idle office facilities and vehicle modification workshops of the former airport to build an advanced driver assistance test base with international standards that can meet the needs of various road conditions. The base is also Valeo's first advanced driving assistance test base in China, which is a perfect embodiment of Valeo's "30 Unbounded Wisdom for the Future".
As a high-tech company in the field of mobility, Valeo enjoys technology and industry leadership in the areas of electrification, driver assistance systems, reinventing the in-cabin experience and intelligent lighting for all areas. At the event, Valeo also invited guests to experience the application of Valeo's innovative technologies and products in a number of new models in the Chinese market.
1994-2003: Valeo took root in China and fully introduced its business
Jingzhou, a thousand-year-old city, is the starting point of Valeo's business in China. In 1994, Valeo established its first factory in China in Shashi District, Jingzhou City, bringing the automotive air conditioning business to China. Subsequently, in the first decade, Valeo successively established the first batch of factories in Wenling, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai and other cities, fully introducing Valeo's wipers, air conditioning, lighting, electrical systems, transmission systems and other businesses, starting the process of development in China.
In 1994, China's first far-reaching automobile industry policy, the "Automobile Industry Industrial Policy", was officially promulgated, which brought China's automobile industry into a new historical stage, and the automobile industry in Jingzhou and other places also entered a stage of rapid development. As the world's leading auto parts company, Valeo actively participates in the development of China's automotive industry, introduces leading parts products and technologies to China, and contributes to the development of the automotive industry chain.
2004-2013: Strengthen local production and R&D, and integrate into China's automotive ecosystem
With the deepening of China's reform and opening up and the vigorous development of the automotive industry, Valeo continues to expand investment, strengthen local production and R&D in China, and deeply integrate into the Chinese automotive ecosystem.
In the second decade of entering China, Valeo not only further expanded its production base, establishing factories in Changchun, Shenzhen, Foshan, Wuhu, Shenyang, Tianjin and other places, but also expanded the scale of local R&D, successively established R&D centers in Wuhan, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and established Valeo's Five Axis School to strengthen the cultivation of local talents and further implement the principle of "rooted in China, serving China".
2014 to the present: innovation without borders, to achieve the transformation of "created in China".
With the rise of China's automotive industry, China has begun to lead the transformation of mobility, Valeo has further strengthened its local R&D investment to provide customers with products that meet the needs of the Chinese market, and at the same time participated more in the Group's platform product development projects and forward-looking development projects, so that the innovation results have benefited the world.
In 2021, Valeo expanded its software R&D center in Wuhan, making it one of the largest R&D centers in the world, in 2022, Valeo established an Innovation and Mobility Center in Beijing to explore smart mobility solutions with partners in the field of new mobility, and in 2023, Valeo opened the third phase of Valeo's R&D Center for Comfort and Driver Assistance Systems in Wuhan and the R&D center in Shanghai, and completed the Valeo (Shenzhen) Intelligent Manufacturing Center.
Valeo also adheres to open innovation and actively cooperates with customers, well-known academic institutions, innovative technology companies and universities to maintain a competitive advantage for the future business through continuous innovation. Valeo has established joint laboratories with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and established R&D cooperation with many domestic enterprises.
Through investment in R&D, we have realized the transformation from "Made in China" to "Created in China". Many innovative technologies are also "created" to meet the needs of Chinese customers. More than 50% of Valeo's orders in China come from Chinese OEMs. Valeo's customers cover traditional automotive companies and new car manufacturers, and Valeo supports customers in electrification, intelligent driving, software-defined vehicles and Chinese brands going overseas.
Today, Valeo China is the largest single market country of the Valeo Group in terms of sales, number of employees and number of R&D personnel, with 35 production sites in China, approximately 18,000 employees, 14 R&D centers and more than 4,500 R&D personnel. In 2023, Valeo's total sales in China will reach RMB 30 billion, accounting for 17% of the Group's total sales.