Strategies for automotive electronics market

Gasgoo.com: What do you think is Visteon’s core competence?
Dan Linder: Visteon has an extensive portfolio of cockpipt electronics portfolio including audio & infotainment, driver information and center stack electronics. Visteon is also recognized for its unique integration capabilities driven by human machine interface (HMI), connectivity and network solutions.
Our objective is to bring to market products that appeal to consumers and that enhance their driving experience. The insights generated by our industry-leading consumer studies are used to guide rapid product development cycle.
And finally, our scalable platform design approach allows us to develop highly customizable and cost effective products that bring the newest electronic trends and features into the vbehicle at a faster pace.

Gasgoo.com: The demand of auto electronics has been slowing down due to the global economic crisis. Has Visteon also been impacted and what actions have you taken to minimize the impact? 
Dan Linder: The global economic crisis and the industry downturn has affected all automakers. The industry as a whole went through unprecedented challenges. In times like these, we focused on the things that we could control: quality, timely delivery of products and cost controls. Our extensive footprint and successful joint ventures and operations in Asia, and more specifically in markets which saw continued growth like China and India, have helped mitigate the impact of the downturn. This year, we celebrated two new facilities opening in China and are finalizing several other plant expansions in both China and India. Our Asia Pacific strategy has served us well during this downturn and we believe it will well position us equally well for the future.

Gasgoo.com: According to some industry insiders’ forecast, the automotive electronics market will not fully recover until 2012. What is your point of view on the future of the automotive electronics market in China?
Dan Linder: China has just crossed an important milestone: the production of 10 million units. Many industry experts expect China to become the largest automotive market globally this year, with some forecasting sales of more than 12 million vehicles. We also firmly believe that the China auto market, and therefore the automotive elctronics market, will continue to grow for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, we also see several new trends and opportunities in the China automotive electronics market. As Chinese consumers, especially young people, are becoming more tech-savvy, the complexity of electronics content in China vehicles will continue to grow and there will be more demand on seamless connectivity between consumer electronics and the vehicle. Suppliers like Visteon which possesses an extensive product range and integration capability, will be able to capture these opportunities.

Gasgoo.com: There are still huge potential in the mid/low end automotive electronics market in China. Do you have plans to enter this market segment and what is your marketing strategy in the future?
Dan Linder: We already have a wide range of electronics product portfolio which serves the low and mid-end segments. Thanks to our well-established platform design approach, we are able to deliver cost effective products for lower segment vehicles without sacrificing feature content or quality, while at the same time facilitating easy customization and upgrades. This scalable approach enables us to bring technologies and features that used to be associated with the higher vehicle segments. Our China Technical Center has already delivered numerous products based on audio, clusters and navigation units platforms specifically designed for these segments.

Gasgoo.com: The local suppliers in China are growing fast. Do you think they will become your strong competitors in the high-end automotive electronics market in China? And how would you address the competition?
Dan Linder: The market always keeps moving: new competitors and new technologies are constantly surfacing. There are already strong Chinese suppliers in the automotive electronics market which will no doubt become very important players. We intend to keep our competitive edge by leveraging our global footprint, comprehensive automotive intellect, 15-year history in the China market, and by continuously improving our product platforms in terms of cost and technology.

Gasgoo.com: Any other topics you would like to talk about?
Dan Linder: Another trend we are noticing in the automotive market is that Chinese automakers are focusing more and more on quality, service, and technologies. This can be largely attributed to the maturing of the China market and Chinese automakers’ overseas expansion strategy. Visteon aims to leverage our full range of cockpit electronics products and technologies, market leading quality, vehicle integration expertise and our international footprint to become a strategic partner for COEMs in their continuous development.