Solvay, a Belgian chemical and pharmaceutical company, has recently announced that its affiliate Inergy Automotive Systems, world leader in fuel systems for the automotive industry, is building a new fuel systems plant in the Beijing region, China, and one in the Chennai region, India. The Beijing factory will serve a production plant operated by Hyundai as from July 2010 and the Chennai factory will supply a car plant in the Bangalore region operated by Toyota.

The new production units are constructed to serve the fast-growing automotive industry in this part of Asia. In 2008, China became the largest automobile producer in the world with a market share of 17.2 per cent, ahead of Germany with 14.7 per cent and the United States with 14.6 per cent. According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers passenger vehicles sales rose 7.3 per cent to 6.76 million units in 2008 while sales of commercial vehicles rose 5.3 per cent to 2.62 million units. It forecasts that total sales in 2009 will top 11 million units.

Inergy Automotive Systems is quickly speeding up its operations in this fast-growing region. It launched last year operations at its new production unit of Wuhan in the Hubei province of China which delivers fuel systems to production plants operated by Nissan and BMW. The Wuhan factory will as from the end of this year start delivering to a production plant operated by PSA. Inergy Automotive Systems also has plants in Korea, Japan and Thailand. More than 20 per cent of its activities are located in this region.

"Inergy Automotive Systems is clearly a global player in the automotive market. It has the ability to quickly support the growth of its global customers wherever they operate. These new plants will reinforce the presence of our affiliate Inergy in Asia", said Jacques Van Rijckevorsel, general manager of the Plastics Sector and Member of the executive Committee, Solvay.

Inergy Automotive Systems is the world’s number one supplier of complete plastic fuel systems and fuel storage technologies (for petrol, diesel and biofuels). The company was set up as an equal share joint venture by the French company Plastic Omnium and Solvay. Headquartered in Paris, France, Inergy Automotive Systems employs approximately 4,500 people worldwide and operates 23 manufacturing facilities in 17 countries.

Solvay is an international chemical and pharmaceutical Group with headquarters in Brussels. It employs more than 29,000 people in 50 countries. In 2008, its consolidated sales amounted to EUR 9.5 billion, generated by its three sectors of activity: chemicals, plastics and pharmaceuticals. Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange in Brussels.

Popular From The Web

Comments By The Readers