Cars

Faurecia inks alliance with Geely

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-07-08 11:48

PARIS - French car parts maker Faurecia has signed a partnership with Chinese carmaker Geely and its main supplier Limin as it ramps up exposure to the world's biggest car market.

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The alliance will set up "several" joint ventures and aims to supply interior systems and exterior components to all Geely brands, Faurecia said in a statement on Wednesday. No figure on expected upcoming investment was given.

Geely is the listed arm of China's biggest private-car maker and has already spread far beyond Asia with the purchase of Ford Motor's Sweden-based brand Volvo.

Faurecia, which sells parts to carmakers such as PSA Peugeot Citroen and Volkswagen, said the agreement marked a big step in its development in China, which overtook the US to become the world's biggest car market last year.

The French firm recently took a stake in Chinese car parts supplier Xuyang that it said would broaden its product range.

Faurecia is targeting annual sales in China of 1.7 billion euros ($2.14 billion) by 2014 compared with 670 million in 2009. It expects Asia to account for 15 percent of group sales in 2014 from 7 percent last year.