Nexteer Automotive gears up for China success

Nexteer Automotive, a parts supplier, is benefiting from using a globalized management team, the company chairman said.

"We enjoy a global source of executives and managers as well as clients," Zhao Guibin, also chairman of AVIC Automobile Industry, told China Daily. "Though AVIC Automobile Industry is a State-owned company, we stick to market rules."

AVIC Automobile, a subsidiary of aircraft maker Aviation Industry Corp of China, acquired the controlling interests in Nexteer in 2011 in an attempt to expand AVIC's clout in the auto industry.

"We have adopted a set of assessment mechanisms to review the performance of Nexteer's management team and commissioned a third-party human resource consulting firm to help evaluate salary for executives," Zhao said.

Nexteer is headquartered in the United States, in Saginaw, Michigan. The company, which manufactures steering and driveline products, was established in 1906 and was part of General Motors for nearly a century. In 2010, Nexteer was acquired by Pacific Century Motors, a joint venture controlled by AVIC Automobile Industry.

It has more than 50 customers globally, including BMW, Fiat Chrysler, Ford and Toyota, as well as automakers in India and China. With a global workforce of about 10,000, the company has 20 manufacturing plants, five application-engineering centers and nine customer service centers around the world.

The company reported $2.39 billion of revenue in 2013, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent, according to its annual financial report.

The achievement should be attributed to the work that Laurent Bresson, Nexteer's French-born president and global chief operating officer, and his multinational team have done, Zhao said.

"In our management team, we have people from Germany, the US, China and Poland, and make decisions collectively," the 42-year-old Bresson said. "We also have brought in some individuals from outside the company with global backgrounds and a fresh perspective. Our success is due to those talented people who know the history and the 'DNA' of the company."

He continued: "I am a European working for a company headquartered in the United States with Chinese ownership, and now we have been listed in Hong Kong. This combination can explain why we stick to being global and diverse."

Nexteer has paid much attention to maintaining steady growth in developing markets, especially China, Bresson said.

"We expanded our product portfolio to develop customized solutions, like our brush column-assist electric power steering, which was specifically designed for China and other developing markets," he said.

After being acquired by AVIC Automobile, Nexteer gained increased access to the Chinese market, enabling it to better meet Chinese clients' needs for advanced technology and safety, according to Bresson.

"The Chinese market is becoming increasingly competitive, and what we are able to guarantee is to present better products and services to our customers.

"From my communications with Zhao and other Chinese directors on the board, I can feel that AVIC shares with us in the strong push for technology and profitable growth and in the efforts to become more global."

Nexteer has broken ground in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality for a new plant that it will operate as a joint venture with Chongqing Changfeng.

Construction of the new facility in Chongqing began in early March and is expected to be finished in October, according to Nexteer.

The company is looking forward to forming more ventures with Chinese enterprises, Bresson said.

"We will continue to face new challenges rather than basking in our past successes. We focus on what we can improve every day for the good of our employees, customers, shareholders and suppliers as well as the communities where our factories are located."