JV pushes Valeo to No. 2 HVAC supplier in N.A.
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HVAC systems are getting a major makeover. As start-stop systems gain popularity to help boost fuel economy, automakers need air conditioners that will operate when a vehicle's engine temporarily shuts off. Photo credit: VALEO |
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Valeo S.A. is poised to become North America's second-largest producer of climate-control systems now that the French supplier has formed a joint venture to acquire operations producing those systems from Ford Motor Co.'s Automotive Components Holding unit.
Valeo will have an 18 percent market share of HVACs -- heating, ventilation and air conditioning units -- produced for light vehicles built in North America, estimates the research firm IHS Automotive.
The region's top producer is Japan's Denso Corp., with 25 percent of North American production. In third place is Visteon Corp., with 15 percent, followed by Delphi Automotive with 10 percent.
Those figures do not include sales of condensers, which IHS counts separately.
The acquisition gives Valeo "an immediate 'in' with Ford," said David Smith-Tilley, IHS' London-based director of component forecasts.
HVAC changes
HVAC systems are undergoing a major makeover. As start-stop systems gain popularity, automakers need air conditioners that will operate when a vehicle's engine temporarily shuts off.
Automakers also need heaters that will work in hybrid-powered vehicles, which don't generate much waste heat with their engines.
Moreover, the EPA is offering automakers incentives to use more efficient air conditioners. Automakers earn CO2 credits if they use energy-efficient air conditioners that don't leak refrigerants into the atmosphere.
"HVAC is becoming much more pivotal," Smith-Tilley said. "Everyone is battling to come up with solutions. We are in for interesting times."
Long-term goal
Valeo has pursued Ford's climate control business for the past five years.
In 2005, Visteon Corp. spun off 17 plants to its former parent, Ford, which in turn set up Automotive Components Holdings to sell those operations. The Sheldon Road plant in Plymouth Township, Mich., which makes climate-control components, was one of the 17factories.
Valeo announced an agreement to buy the plant in 2006, but the deal fell apart the following year when the plant's UAW membership vetoed the contract.
On Friday, Nov. 9, the plant's union membership ratified a new contract with Valeo's joint venture.
New partner
To get the deal done this time, Valeo partnered with a minority-owned company, V. Johnson Enterprises, to form a joint venture dubbed Detroit Thermal Systems .
Valeo has a 49 percent share of the venture, which will transfer HVAC production from Ford's Sheldon Road plant to a facility less than 30 miles away in Romulus, Mich.
The Romulus plant, which will employ 500 workers, will assemble up to 2 million HVAC units annually when it hits full production in 2014 .
The arrangement will help Ford to meet its minority purchasing goals. Vinnie Johnson, CEO of V. Johnson Enterprises , is an African-American former basketball star who played for the Detroit Pistons.
Valeo declined to estimate how much the acquisition will boost its North American revenue, which totaled $1.9 billion last year.
However, Valeo noted that it will join Ford's Aligned Business Framework, which directs the lion's share of Ford's annual purchases to key suppliers.
Francoise Colpron, president of Valeo North America, said that's one reason why Valeo was eager to complete the acquisition. Said Colpron: "It's an indicator of the strength of our company today and our continuing interest in this deal."
You can reach David Sedgwick at dsedgwick@crain.com.
