The sale of the remaining businesses of insolvent automotive supplier Plastal seems imminent. At the end of June 2010, Faurecia (Nanterre / France; www.faurecia.com) reached an agreement with the insolvency administrator for the takeover of the Spanish business unit Plastal SA. The deal, whose financial details were not disclosed, is subject to the approval of the European cartel authorities.

The transaction involves Faurecia’s takeover of four plants – located in Barcelona, Tudela, Valencia and Valladolid – with about 700 employees. Plastal Spain manufactured 1.2m bumpers in 2009 – most of them earmarked for clients such as Ford, Seat, Volkswagen and Iveco – generating sales of EUR 135m.

When Faurecia bought Plastal’s six German plants at the beginning of this year – see Plasteurope.com of 05.02.2010 – it also acquired buying rights for the Spanish unit, as well as the plant in Hambach / France.

A Faurecia spokesman declined to comment on a Plasteurope.com query whether the French group was also in talks to acquire the Plastal SAS plant in Hambach / France, which produces body parts for the Smart car, among others. Nevertheless, a takeover seems almost certain, considering that, following the acquisition of all Plastal plants in Germany, the patents for those parts manufactured in Hambach are now in Faurecia’s hands.

With this in mind, the option to acquire Hambach seems contingent only upon the ongoing negotiations on the orders for the new, yet-to-be-developed Smart “Fortwo” four-seater as well as the new Renault “Twingo”. At the beginning of April, Daimler and Renault/Nissan announced their intention to develop a common platform for these vehicles by 2013. The goal is for the two-seater to be manufactured in Hambach, whereas the two four-seater vehicles will be produced at Renault’s plant in Novo Mesto / Slovenia.

Aside from expanding its European activities, Faurecia also is pursuing an expansion strategy in Asia. The French group recently acquired 18.75% of the shares in Chinese automotive supplier Xuyang Industrial Group (Changchun, Jilin; www.cnxyjt.com) for an undisclosed amount. The remaining shares are held by the city of Changchun.

Faurecia runs several joint ventures with Xuyang, including Changchun Faurecia Xuyang Automotive Seat (60% Faurecia, 40% Xuyang), which in future will manufacture entire seat systems. In addition, the French group operates a plant for interior modules in Changchun, 40% of which are set to go to Xuyang. In return, Faurecia will receive a 40% share of Xuyang’s plants for acoustic modules and interior covers.