(AOF) – In accordance with the succession plan announced in October 2020, Valeo’s Board of Directors has decided to appoint Christophe Périllat, Chief Executive Officer of Valeo. Jacques Aschenbroich continues to act as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the remainder of his term of office.
“I am delighted with the decision to appoint Christophe Périllat as Chief Executive Officer. I am convinced that the quality of his career within the group for more than 20 years and his in-depth knowledge of the automotive sector will enable him to guide the Valeo group in the current automotive revolution and to define the strategic orientations necessary to strengthen its leadership and capture all the opportunities in the years to come”, commented Jacques Aschenbroich.
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Automotive / Equipment manufacturers: A slow recovery
After a bad year 2020, some actors
expect a very gradual return to the level of activity prior to the crisis: not before 2024-2025.
The global pandemic weighed heavily on the accounts of Valeo, Faurecia and Plastic Omnium.
2020, a bad year for French equipment manufacturers.
All three ended 2020 posting losses, despite recovering in the second half. Faurecia recorded 379 million euros in losses last year. Its sales tumbled 35.4% in the first half, following the shutdown of automobile production in China, then in Europe and the United States. Its turnover fell by nearly 20%, to 14.6 billion euros, over the year as a whole and its operating margin rate fell from 7.2% to 2.8% .
Its competitor, Plastic Omnium, posted a decline in turnover of 16.7% in 2020, to 7.7 billion euros. Staff costs and general expenses were reduced by 240 million euros and investments by 27%. Including 250 million in asset impairments, its net loss reached 251 million in 2020.
Valeo suffered a drop in its turnover of 16%, to 16.4 billion euros, and a net loss slightly greater than one billion euros.
Hydrogen, a new Eldorado for equipment manufacturers
The production of green hydrogen is an alternative to electric batteries. Bosch, one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, will invest by 2024 one billion euros in fuel cells, which transform hydrogen into electricity. The German group predicts that the green hydrogen market in Europe will represent nearly 40 billion euros by 2030, with annual growth rates of 65%. He estimates that the market for mobile fuel cell components, intended for vehicles, will represent around 18 billion euros by the end of the decade.
French automotive suppliers are also seeking to capture part of this market. Michelin and Faurecia rely on their subsidiary Symbio, which produces fuel cells. Plastic Omnium aims to become a world leader in hydrogen by 2030 and achieve 3 billion euros in sales by that date.