Eelco Spoelder: Level Up is the continuation and further development of the Level Up One 6–8 strategy program. When I assumed my role as CEO at Autoneum in the spring of 2023, there were various challenges that needed to be addressed immediately. Together with the management team, we defined at the time six priorities and corresponding measures and grouped them under the name “Level Up One 6–8.” This strategy program was designed to have a quick short-term impact and has meanwhile been completed successfully.

Pascaline Brégeon: Thanks to the great commitment of our employees, we have achieved a lot in a short time: The turnaround in North America has been realized, production capacities in Europe have been optimized and operational performance has been further improved. Furthermore, the organizational integration of Borgers Automotive has been completed successfully, inflation compensation and consistent price management have led to an improvement in margins, and new products for the electric and commercial vehicle markets are spurring growth. All in all, it is a solid basis on which we built the new strategy for the coming years.

Pascaline Brégeon: The Level Up strategy is based on six pillars: “Shape a future-fit product portfolio,” “Innovate to create customer value,” “Accelerate global growth,” “Foster a people-centric culture,” “Be the sustainability benchmark” and “Boost cost competitiveness.” These are the priorities that we have set and will be implementing consistently in the coming years.

Eelco Spoelder: Level Up stands for the next level that we are striving for in all areas. The new strategy will pave the way for us to achieve our medium-term targets. Supported by selected strategic initiatives that were defined for each of the six pillars and by the targeted increase in market share with existing and new customers, we expect to increase revenue to CHF 3 billion and to reach an EBIT margin of 6% to 8% over the cycle.

Eelco Spoelder: Autoneum has changed and evolved in many ways in recent years. Thanks to the acquisition of Borgers Automotive and the successful implementation of our strategic priorities, we are now in a stronger position than before, which allows us to focus on long-term targets. At the same time, we have seen an increase in the market share of Chinese vehicle manufacturers, a dynamic development in the field of electrification and new mobility, and growing requirements around sustainability.

Pascaline Brégeon: And on top of that come topics such as digitalization and artificial intelligence, as well as rising competition for the best talent. Given all this, it was the right time to stop and ask ourselves: Where do we stand now? And where do we want to be in the future? What targets do we have and how do we want to achieve these in an increasingly complex world? Our answer to all this has been to redefine not only our strategy, but also our purpose, our vision, our mission and our values.

Pascaline Brégeon: A mission statement cannot simply be imposed “from above”. For this reason, we involved around 300 employees from various functions and regions in its development. In this way, we created the precondition for ensuring the broadest possible acceptance from the outset. For the rollout, a comprehensive package of communication materials such as videos, brochures, presentations, posters and giveaways was prepared to promote a deeper understanding of and identification with our new purpose, vision, mission and values. In addition, we held information events and training sessions at all our locations around the world.

Eelco Spoelder: We believe that committed employees and a vibrant corporate culture are the basis of our success – both now and in the future. This is why fostering a people-centric culture is also one of the six pillars of our Level Up strategy: People are at the center. We want to develop our employees and help them realize their full potential, which includes improving collaboration within and between global teams. At the same time, we need to establish a management style that strengthens commitment and embodies our core corporate values.

Pascaline Brégeon: Cost competitiveness and a lean organization are crucial for growth and profitability. Reducing costs and improving efficiency are factors that we can influence to a large degree ourselves. We can achieve operational efficiency and excellence through, for example, implementing best practices and processes for continuous improvement but also through digitalization, automation and the use of artificial intelligence.

Eelco Spoelder: We see further potential in optimizing our investments in fixed assets and operating costs, in robustly managing our margins and in our global presence, which allows us to continuously adapt to changing market conditions. This and other initiatives ensure that our investments are used to support further growth.

Eelco Spoelder: It was primarily thanks to the consistent implementation of our strategic initiatives program that the Company could further increase its revenue and profitability. Measures to improve the overall efficiency of the plants along with process optimizations also contributed to a stronger operating performance worldwide. In addition, our product portfolio is suitable for both electric vehicles and cars with combustion engines, which makes Autoneum less susceptible to fluctuations in the production volume of vehicles of both drive types. As far as the situation in Europe is concerned, volumes here are still lower than before the COVID crisis, while call-offs, meanwhile, are relatively stable. Automotive suppliers have to adjust to current levels, and that is what we have done. Moreover, in this situation we benefit from our global presence and our broad and well-balanced customer portfolio.

Pascaline Brégeon: The possibility of cross-selling products based on our unique technologies in all regions and business areas is another advantage. For example, Propylat allows us to offer a versatile and completely vertically integrated recycling technology to all vehicle manufacturers worldwide. Propylat was originally developed by Borgers Automotive and was sold mainly in Europe. Thanks to Autoneum’s well-established global customer network, we are now able to exploit the potential of this technology to expand our market share in other regions as well.

Eelco Spoelder: The Asian market is the focus of our activities to accelerate our global growth. With the opening in 2024 of two new production facilities in Pune in Western India and Changchun in the Chinese province of Jilin, we further strengthened our presence and proximity to customers in two of the world’s largest and fastest-growing automotive markets. With the Pune plant, we are now present in three of the four major automotive hubs in India. The new plant in China, which is operated as a joint venture, is also located in one of Asia’s largest vehicle production centers. It will help to increase our market share with European, Japanese and Chinese OEMs and also support the expansion of our commercial vehicle business in this region.

Pascaline Brégeon: In the summer of 2024, we opened a new Research & Technology (R&T) Center in Shanghai in China. The establishment of an R&T team in China allows us to develop new products quickly and in close collaboration with local customers and so respond to the dynamic market conditions and the requirements of Chinese vehicle manufacturers. In addition, the center will support the further development of sustainable materials and promote the introduction of Autoneum’s environmentally friendly products to the Asian market. We are therefore well positioned for further growth – both organic and inorganic – in this strategically important region.

Eelco Spoelder: The Jiangsu Huanyu Group is a leading supplier of acoustic and thermal management solutions for the automotive industry in China. The acquisition will significantly expand our customer base with several major Chinese vehicle manufacturers, including BYD, BAIC and GAC. With an extensive presence in many key automotive hubs, Jiangsu Huanyu Group is an excellent strategic complement to Autoneum and brings us a significant step closer to our medium-term target of generating 20% of Group revenue in Asia.

Pascaline Brégeon: Until now, major Chinese vehicle manufacturers like BYD have been largely missing from our otherwise very broad customer portfolio. Over 60% of cars sold in China are Chinese brands. Gaining access to Chinese OEMs is therefore of great strategic importance. Since Jiangsu Huanyu Group generates over 90% of its business from Chinese car manufacturers, this acquisition will considerably strengthen our market position.

Eelco Spoelder: The acquisition of Borgers Automotive has made Autoneum a major player in the commercial vehicle market. From the outset, we have been committed to maintaining and further expanding this product segment, which is also a key element in accelerating our global growth. Since then, we have further extended our strong customer base and won numerous new orders, including for interior trims and sound-absorbing noise shields in Europe and for washable surface flooring in Europe and China.

Pascaline Brégeon: We have also received the first business awards for our new sustainable side and rear wall panels. Their carrier material consists of Propylat PET and is thus made entirely of polyester, it has a high content of recycled fibers and is fully recyclable at the end of its service life. Manufacturers of trucks and commercial agricultural vehicles therefore also benefit from our expertise in the development and manufacturing of environmentally friendly monomaterials, which represent an important step toward a circular economy.

Pascaline Brégeon: Autoneum has set itself a clear and ambitious goal: We want to be the sustainability benchmark in our industry and strengthen our competence in sustainable products and production processes to reduce emissions and achieve circularity. Our close cooperation with our customers is evident in various projects, for example in our support of the Renault Group as a key partner in the development of the Renault Emblème demonstration vehicle. The car was designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% over its entire life cycle. Our sustainable Pure technologies were used in numerous vehicle components and contributed significantly to a high recycled content and a substantial reduction in weight.

Eelco Spoelder: Autoneum already offers a comprehensive product portfolio that supports automobile manufacturers in achieving their ambitious sustainability targets. However, requirements are continuing to grow. New upcoming regulations such as the revised End-of-Life Vehicles Directive in Europe raise the demand for components that are fully recyclable and have an excellent environmental footprint across the entire product life cycle. One way that we meet this rising demand is with our growing portfolio of sustainable monomaterial components made entirely from polyester.

Eelco Spoelder: Current forecasts suggest that the market will only see moderate growth of 1% to 2% per year on average by 2030. Based on our key strengths and our new Level Up strategy, however, we have identified levers that will enable us to significantly outgrow the market over the next few years. Our fundamental strength comes from our global market and technology leadership and from a broad and well-balanced customer base. We are the preferred supplier of many of our customers. The positive feedback we receive on a regular basis leaves us confident that we can achieve our medium-term targets as planned.

Pascaline Brégeon: A versatile portfolio of products that are as functional as they are sustainable enables us to tap into the aforementioned growth potential that Asia, the commercial vehicle business and the area of electromobility offer. At the same time, we have a strong innovation pipeline of future-fit products that meet the ambitious sustainability targets of automobile manufacturers. Other growth drivers include initiatives under Level Up to cross-sell products and technologies and to increase operational excellence.

Eelco Spoelder: The record level of incoming orders reached last year is an important milestone in achieving our medium-term targets. At the same time, it underlines our customers’ trust in the high quality of our products, our reliability and financial stability in a dynamic and consolidating market. – The world is changing, and we want to take advantage of the opportunities that this change offers us on the way to realizing our vision: to be the global leader for innovative and sustainable solutions that bring comfort to every vehicle.

Thank you for speaking with us, Mr. Spoelder and Ms. Brégeon