November 19, 2013: Faurecia and Magneti Marelli announced signing of a cooperation agreement for the design, development and manufacturing of advanced human-machine interface (HMI) vehicle interior products. The agreement will increase the added-value of the interior business solutions that Faurecia and Magneti Marelli provide to automakers and end-customers.
Through this agreement, Faurecia and Magneti Marelli expect to further expand their business portfolios in interior systems, adding HMI solutions to a broad product range including centre stacks, fascias and overhead consoles, retractable touch- screens and displays or the physical integration of nomadic devices such as smartphones and tablets.
Combined skills
The partnership draws on the combined expertise of Faurecia and Magneti Marelli. While Faurecia brings its expertise as the world’s leading full-supplier in interior systems module architecture, Magneti Marelli brings its extensive skills in the fields of displays, electronics, switches and tactile functions. Joining their skills and know-how will allow the partners to provide a wide range of solutions with innovative materials, mechatronics and natural interfaces.
“This is an important step in the evolution of our interior systems offer to meet the needs of automakers for increased connectivity and the intelligent use of interior architecture,” said Yann Delabrière, chairman and CEO of Faurecia.
“This agreement leads to a new era of human-machine interface integrated solutions, where the user experience of receiving, managing and sharing information inside the car, is moving to a unique, interactive and extended interface, where the merger between plastics and electronics is crucial”, said Eugenio Razelli, CEO of Magneti Marelli.
The partners are already actively pursuing the first business applications with European, North American and Asian automakers in the fields of high-quality retractable touchscreens and nomadic devices integration. Whether fixed or retractable, displays are ever more present inside vehicles, growing in size and becoming increasingly tactile.
This new cooperation between Faurecia and Magneti Marelli provides the ability to integrate, seamlessly and with premium quality, mobile devices in instrument panels, center consoles or docking stations.
Faurecia aims at further reinforcing its worldwide leadership in vehicle interiors by offering the physical integration of mobile devices, as smartphones, tablets and others. Faurecia is already offering wireless-charging components through its partnership with PLDS (Philips & Lite-On Digital Solutions).
Magneti Marelli aims at reinforcing its leadership in automotive electronics through the ability to implement complete HMI solutions (voice, touch, display) able to support automakers in terms of style, functionalities and physical integration of consumer devices.
Going forward, the cooperation will open the door for HMI applications with superior plastronics look and feel, fusion of control technologies, enhanced digitization and customization. Plastronics is the partnership of plastics engineering and electronics, with the goal of functionalizing plastic components (by mounting electronic components directly onto plastic components.