Sogefi to underscore presence

Shanghai Sogefi Filtration, the new joint venture of the Italy-based Sogefi Group in Shanghai, is striving to sell 800,000 filters in 2007 for revenues worth 15.5 million yuan.

It will set up a local design office in Shanghai by the end of June, manned by five design engineers specialized in aluminum die cast parts and plastic injected parts.

The joint venture was established last October at Pudong New District with a total investment of 10 million yuan.

Sogefi Group (www.sogefi.it), headquartered in Milan, is a leader in the auto parts and components industry.

The company enjoys a worldwide reputation for its engine and cabin filtration systems and suspension components.

As a multinational company, Sogefi has entered into partnerships with leading global automobile manufacturers. Set up in 1980, the firm has rapidly expanded to establish its presence in 14 countries and regions covering 50 locations, of which 41 are production plants.

The group has 6,200 employees worldwide in its two divisions, filters (51 percent of turnover) and suspension parts (49 percent of turnover), creating a turnover of more than 1 billion euro ($1.34 billion) in 2006.

A leader in its core business in Europe and South America, Sogefi is active on the markets of first equipment and original and independent replacement. Sogefi stock is traded on the Milan Stock Exchange.

Sogefi Filter Division is one of the leading European developers and manufacturers of filters for automotive and heavy-duty applications. Its 3,670 employees create an annual output of 180 million filters. With the acquisition of Filtrauto in 2001, the filter division looks back on a 50-year history, as the Purflux patent of the Chevron Pleat was first registered in 1956.

The product range comprises oil, petrol, diesel, air and cabin air filter elements as well as complete modules for first equipment and the original and independent aftermarket.

Sogefi Filter Division is active in developing complex liquid filtration and air intake systems with a series of integrated features such as valves, sensors, water drainage functions, or heating and cooling systems.

As development partner and serial manufacturer of the automotive and heavy-duty vehicle industry, Sogefi supplies 29.6 percent of its annual production directly to the international Original Equipment Market (OEMs), which includes leading automobile and truck manufacturers.

A share of 25.7 percent in the Original Equipment Spare Parts (OES) and 44.6 percent in the Independent After Market (IAM) replacement markets are supplied with the entire product range in OE (OEM+OES) quality. The filter division owns 20 sites worldwide with local presence in Europe, South America, the United States, China and Egypt. The 2006 turnover reached 527 million euro ($706.3 million).

Sogefi Filter Division's development and production facilities are located in France, Spain, Italy, Slovenia, the Great Britain, Brazil, Argentina and Egypt.

Sogefi engineers continuously work on innovations in automotive filtration in its six global R&D centers. Due to the group-wide platform strategy, the different research and test centers benefit from synergy effects.

Due to its broad original brand portfolio including Coopers, Crosland, Fiaam, Fram, PBR, Purflux and Tecnocar, and each meeting local customer demands, Sogefi Filter Division is able to occupy a leading market position in almost every country throughout Europe.

(China Daily 06/05/2007 page36)