Valeo strengthens its R&D in China in response to the mobility revolution and local specific needs

Valeo strengthens its R&D in China to drastically increase the ability of the company to locally develop innovation. Mobility is undergoing an unprecedented revolution, and China is leading the transformation. China is also the largest automotive market in the world and Valeo's largest operating country with nearly 20,000 employees, including 3,000 engineers, in 35 production plants and 12 R&D centers.

That’s why Valeo naturally reinforces its R&D in China through:

The immediate launch of a batch of new innovation projects to be developed out of China. These local innovations will be more fitted and more time-efficient to meet the needs of both China and global markets.

Photo credit: Valeo

A new China Innovation and Mobility Center, with a front office in Beijing, to promote close cooperation with the new players in the mobility market.

Further extension of the Software Operation Center in Wuhan, covering all activities of Valeo China, in order to accelerate local expertise development. This follows the opening in Wuhan, in 2021 already, of the first Valeo CarLab in China, to increase the creativity of the local teams.

Photo credit: Valeo

François Marion, President of Valeo China stated,“After 28 years of successes in China, this new R&D footprint will give Valeo the means to accelerate local innovation and to develop the adequate products, at the right speed to meet the mobility revolution.”

With this new R&D footprint, Valeo will go even further in its capacity to develop locally innovations which meet the Chinese specific needs.  It is here in China, for example, that Valeo launched the 48V systems which were originally a response to a specific market need in China, but are now highly popular everywhere.

Innovation is at the heart of Valeo strategy.  In 2020, 56% of the order intakes were related to innovative products which didn’t exist three years ago.  All over the world, Valeo’s teams create and design technologies that support cleaner, safer and smarter mobility, taking into account the specific features and requirements of local markets.