Faurecia have announced the acquisition of the automotive business of Sora Composites
The company possesses expertise in the field of composite plastics and the use of glass and carbon fibre for automotive applications. The two plants affected by the purchase are located in Theillay and Saint-Méloir-des-Ondes, with the operational headquarters based in Changé (all three sites in France). This business generates annual sales of around EUR 70 million with a total staff of 500.
The parts produced in both plants of Sora Composites include body and structural parts for both mainstream automakers such as Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën, as well as premium car makers such as Aston Martin, Audi, Lotus and McLaren Automotive.
This acquisition is seen as an important step in the development of Faurecia’s expertise in the field of plastic composites, a technology which is expected to experience strong growth over the coming years. With ever more stringent environmental regulations, lighter vehicles are expected which calls for the generalisation of new materials enabling to reduce their weight. Composite materials should enable to gain several kilograms for both structural and body parts.
Faurecia’s objective is to bring these materials towards mass serial production of automotive parts. To that effect, Faurecia has set-up a number of R&D partnerships, with the Fraunhofer Institut in Karlsruhe Germany, the French Centre for Advanced Studies in Composite Materials for Transport applications, the French ESTACA engineering school and with the French Ecole Centrale de Nantes engineering school.
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