Valeo CEO sees gradual recovery in China's car market
Valeo CEO Jacques Aschenbroich said China's auto market appeared to have hit bottom and confirmed the French supplier's full-year profit targets.
"The feeling I have in China is that we've hit the bottom, and that the market seems gradually to be giving signs of recovery," Aschenbroich said.
"There has been significant destocking by our clients in the third quarter, but Valeo's Chinese operations continue to show slight growth," he said Thursday. "The Chinese market will continue to improve progressively."
The CEO said he was comfortable with the group's financial targets, which it raised in July, and added that he expected to complete the sale of its engine control business by the end of the year.
The company pledged to beat its 7.4 percent first-half operating margin in the rest of the year, effectively lifting the 2015 goal. Valeo previously had targeted a "slight increase" compared with last year's 7.2 percent margin.
Even if profits rise, Valeo is unlikely to maintain the breakneck expansion that it once enjoyed.
Last year, the French supplier's sales to automakers in China rose 28 percent to 1.37 billion euros (9.6 billion yuan).
As of March, Valeo had 26 factories in China that produce powertrain, lighting, heating and cooling components. It also has seven factories under construction in China, its largest market.
To maintain growth, the company has been investing 1 billion yuan annually in China.
"There has been significant destocking by our clients in the third quarter, but Valeo's Chinese operations continue to show slight growth," he said Thursday. "The Chinese market will continue to improve progressively."
The CEO said he was comfortable with the group's financial targets, which it raised in July, and added that he expected to complete the sale of its engine control business by the end of the year.
The company pledged to beat its 7.4 percent first-half operating margin in the rest of the year, effectively lifting the 2015 goal. Valeo previously had targeted a "slight increase" compared with last year's 7.2 percent margin.
Even if profits rise, Valeo is unlikely to maintain the breakneck expansion that it once enjoyed.
Last year, the French supplier's sales to automakers in China rose 28 percent to 1.37 billion euros (9.6 billion yuan).
As of March, Valeo had 26 factories in China that produce powertrain, lighting, heating and cooling components. It also has seven factories under construction in China, its largest market.
To maintain growth, the company has been investing 1 billion yuan annually in China.
