Freudenberg Performance Materials starts new production line in China
Expansion of business with innovative auto headliner
Weinheim/Germany, March 5, 2019. Freudenberg & Vilene Nonwovens brought a new production line for car headliners into operation at its Suzhou site in Eastern China. This enables the company to meet the increasing demand for high-quality car headliners in China and South-East Asia. Freudenberg Performance Materials is the specialist for technical textiles of the Freudenberg Group. In China, Freudenberg & Vilene Nonwovens, a joint venture with Japan Vilene Company, Tokyo / Japan, represents the Group.
With the new production line, Freudenberg will increase its annual production of technical textiles in Suzhou by around 8 million m2. Customers will particularly benefit from higher quality of the next generation headliner products. “This investment underscores our long-term commitment to Asia. We want to continue to support our customers in the automotive market with innovative and sustainable solutions that will help them grow”, commented Dr. Frank Heislitz, CEO of Freudenberg Performance Materials.
Freudenberg & Vilene Company headliners are based on nonwovens and can be finished in various ways to provide additional functionality. Apart from excellent surface appearance with good abrasion resistance, outstanding acoustic properties and improved stain resistance, these products contribute to higher comfort in the car interior as well as marked reduction in vehicle weight when combined with other vehicle components. In addition, the company also uses a proportion of recycled products in the manufacture of its products. In this way, Freudenberg helps its customers to reduce their environmental footprint.
“Freudenberg & Vilene Company offers its customers innovative products ensuring consistently high quality”, explained Heislitz. Freudenberg & Vilene Company first introduced printed headliners to the market in 2010, thus capturing a special customer need. Already in 2016, the company investment in an additional production line.
Freudenberg Performance Materials is an established and reliable partner to the automotive industry worldwide. In Asia and China, Freudenberg & Vilene Company enjoys long-standing relationships with Asian OEMs, where it holds a leading position in the market. A cornerstone of this success has been the ability to create numerous headliner innovations.
Alongside the production of products for car interiors, Freudenberg & Vilene Company’s product portfolio includes industrial nonwovens for the apparel industry, industrial ventilation and other technical applications.
About Freudenberg Performance Materials
Freudenberg Performance Materials is a leading global manufacturer of innovative technical textiles offering differentiated value propositions to a broad range of markets and applications such as Apparel, Automotive, Building Interiors, Construction, Energy, Hygiene, Medical, Shoe and Leather goods as well as Specialties. In 2017, the company generates sales of more than €935 million and has 25 manufacturing sites in 14 countries and more than 3.700 employees. Freudenberg Performance Materials attaches great importance to social and ecological responsibility. For more information, please visit www.freudenberg-pm.com
The company is a Business Group of Freudenberg Group. In 2017, the Freudenberg Group employed approximately 48,000 people in some 60 countries worldwide and generated sales of more than €9.3 billion. For more information, please visit www.freudenberg.com
