It is said that "standing at thirty" is a life and a career for people. For enterprises, it can be "30 unbounded", development without constraints, innovation without boundaries, and it is a starting point for a new life.
Recently, Valeo China's 30th anniversary celebration of "30 Unbounded, Smart Future" was held in Jingzhou. The location of Jingzhou is of great significance, as it is Valeo's first city in China.
Starting from this thousand-year-old city and taking root in the vast expanse of China, Valeo has many innovative stories to trace and share in the past 30 years.
Looking back at history, from germination to fruition
Thirty years back in time, let's go back to 1994.
At that time, China's first far-reaching automobile industry policy, the "Automobile Industry Industrial Policy", was officially promulgated.
The introduction of the new policy has become a landmark event for the development of China's automobile industry, allowing the mainland automobile industry to enter a new historical stage, and reaching a consensus on the concept of "automobile industry is a pillar industry" from top to bottom. Based on this, the automobile industry in Jingzhou and other places has also entered a stage of rapid development.
For Valeo at the time, China was also "new", and there were bound to be opportunities in this uncultivated land, but it was also full of challenges. After reviewing the situation, Valeo decided to establish its first factory in China in Shacheng District, Jingzhou, to introduce the automotive air conditioning business to China. Subsequently, Valeo successively established the first batch of factories in Wenling, Wuhan, Nanjing, Shanghai and other cities, and fully introduced wipers, air conditioning, lighting, electrical systems, transmission systems and other businesses.
The spring breeze of reform and opening up, and the unstoppable vigorous growth of the automobile industry, have created favorable conditions for Valeo's development in China, and also ignited a fire.
Valeo, which continues to increase its investment, is more deeply integrated into China's automotive ecosystem. For it, it is still not enough to establish factories and expand manufacturing capacity in Changchun, Shenzhen, Foshan, Wuhu, Shenyang, Tianjin and other places. In order to increase the scale of localized R&D, Valeo has successively established R&D centers in Wuhan, Shanghai and Shenzhen, and established Valeo Five Axis Schools to strengthen the cultivation of localized talents.
Today, in the face of the rise of China's automotive industry, Valeo has strengthened its local R&D investment to provide customers with products that meet the needs of the Chinese market, and has also participated in the Group's platform product development projects and forward-looking projects, benefiting the world with its innovative results.
At the beginning of this year, it presented its 2023 annual financial results with sales of 22.044 billion euros. Among them, Valeo China's overall sales in 2023 increased by 10.4% year-on-year, accounting for 17% of the Group's total sales, and more than 50% of Valeo's business orders in China came from Chinese OEMs, covering traditional automobile companies and "new car manufacturers", demonstrating the effectiveness of the localization strategy.
Wisdom enlightens the future, innovation creates value
Valeo has said, "We use technology to create value for our customers and at the same time achieve our own profitability", and has proven this truth in 30 years of action.
At the ceremony, Zhou Song, President of Valeo China, said: "Valeo, with a history of 100 years, is a leader 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. ”
Zhou Song, President of Valeo China
At the beginning of Valeo's entry into China, it focused on the introduction of products and technologies, but after witnessing the rapid development of the automotive industry, Valeo actively adjusted its strategic approach. Especially in the years of rapid development of new energy vehicles, with the rise of independent brands and the surge of technology, China has begun to gradually lead the future of travel.
At the same time, China is full of enthusiasm and innovation in the areas of vehicle electrification, autonomous driving, intelligent connectivity, and software-defined vehicles, which are exactly at the core of Valeo's business.
In order to accelerate its integration into China's automotive innovation ecosystem, Valeo's local innovation layout is in full swing. In 2021, Valeo expanded its software R&D center in Wuhan, making it one of Valeo's largest R&D centers in the world. In 2022, Valeo established the Innovation and Mobility Center in Beijing to explore smart mobility solutions with partners in the field of new mobility. In 2023, the third phase of Valeo's R&D Center for Comfort and Driver Assistance Systems in Wuhan and its R&D center in Shanghai will be unveiled one after another, and Valeo (Shenzhen) Intelligent Manufacturing Center will be completed.
Today, the inauguration of Valeo's comfort and driving assistance test base in Jingzhou has further strengthened Valeo's local manufacturing and R&D capabilities in the field of intelligent driving.
In the test ride and test drive session after the celebration, our reporter experienced some Valeo's innovative products for different scenarios, such as: the digital light grille technology applied to ZEEKR 007, and the custom light language of the stereo lens intelligent dynamic atmosphere lamp to light up the mood; The Mercedes-Benz E320L showcases Valeo's memory parking technology, equipped with ultrasonic sensors for best-in-class parking and visualization capabilities.
It is worth mentioning that Valeo adheres to open innovation and actively cooperates with customers, academic institutions, innovative technology companies and universities, such as Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology, to maintain a competitive advantage in the future.
The principle of "rooted in China, serving China" has run through Valeo's actions for 30 years. Standing at the new starting point of the 30th anniversary, Valeo will continue to cultivate the local market, open the future and create new value with the spirit of innovation without boundaries.