SMR - Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec
| SMR - Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec | |
|---|---|
| legal form | Public Limited Company |
| founding | 1935 |
| Seat | Portchester , UK |
| management | Char Zawadzinski, COO |
| Number of employees | 10,600 (FY 2017/2018) |
| sales | 1.6 billion EUR (FY 2017/2018) |
| Branch | Automotive supplier |
| Website | www.smr-automotive.com |
SMR - Samvardhana Motherson Reflectec is a supplier to the automotive industry headquartered in Portchester in the south of England (near Portsmouth , County Hampshire ) and part of the Samvardhana Motherson Group. Before August 1, 2009, the company was still called Visiocorp plc . SMR is the world's largest manufacturer of rear-view mirrors for passenger cars .
history
The company was founded in 1932 by Alfred Schefenacker senior (born June 3, 1912 in Esslingen am Neckar , † October 21, 1995; honorary citizen of Schwaikheim ) and Eugen Reitter (born May 29, 1880 in Bad Wildbad, † August 10, 1935;) founded under the name Reitter & Schefenacker in Esslingen. Initially, interior vehicle lights were produced, from 1938 also taillights, and since 1950 car exterior mirrors. In 1969 internally adjustable car exterior mirrors were added to the range. In 1985, Schefenacker put what was then the world's largest multi-color injection molding machine into operation. In 1995 a factory for mirror production was added in Hungary.
In 2000, Schefenacker took over competitor Britax (with plants in the USA, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, India, Korea and Australia) under the direction of Alfred Schefenacker junior, making it the world market leader in exterior mirrors for passenger cars. As a result of this takeover, largely externally financed for strategic reasons, and negative exchange rate developments in international business, Schefenacker got into ever greater economic difficulties in the first years of the 21st century.
In 2004 the company headquarters was relocated to Schwaikheim. In 2005, the existing production in the Korean branch was relocated to a newly built plant. In the same year Schefenacker introduced the first system based on video technology for the detection of blind spots. A year later, Schefenacker took over the Engelmann Group (manufacturer of exterior and interior mirrors and fuel caps).
In 2006, due to the economic problems, the two hedge funds Blue Bay and Davidson Kempner joined and have held 77 percent since then. However, they financed the stake with outside capital, refinanced through debts transferred to the acquired company. In the course of the subsequent restructuring efforts, the headquarters were relocated to Portchester in 2007 in order to avoid bankruptcy under German law (British bankruptcy law allows operations to be continued if the probability of survival is greater than 50 percent). Also in 2007, the rear lights division of the Schefenacker company was separated in December 2007 (since then operating as an independent Odelo ) and the remaining mirror manufacturer was renamed Visiocorp. Since then, Alfred Schefenacker still owns a 23 percent share in SMR.
In July 2008, the Sound division was also sold. In China, the 50/50 joint venture Ningbo Visiocorp Huaxiang Automotive Mirrors Co. was established with Ningbo Huaxiang for the Chinese market. In December Visiocorp sold the company premises in Schwaikheim including the buildings to Alfred Kärcher GmbH & Co. KG and has been a tenant ever since.
Due to the accumulated debts (the estimates published in the media are currently around 300 million euros) and the decline in orders in the wake of the global crisis in the automotive industry, the company, which is the only mirror supplier for important car models, had to be released from the manufacturers as early as the mid-2000s be supported with the conditions. Alfred Schefenacker once again brought tens of millions of euros into the company.
On March 3, 2009 Visiocorp was taken over by a subsidiary of Motherson Sumi Systems Limited (MSSL), Samvardhana Motherson Visiocorp Solution Ltd., for approx. 25 million euros and shares with a value of approx. 1.5 million euros. Visiocorp has been working with Motherson for several years, and in India there are two joint ventures Visiocorp Motherson Ltd. guided works.
Web links
- SMR (Samhardvana Motherson Reflectec) website
- Visiocorp sale planned by the end of February , Handelsblatt , February 6, 2009
- Sönke Iwersen and Martin Buchenau: Schefenacker before an emergency sale to India , Handelsblatt, February 6, 2009
- Motherson Sumi together with Samvardhana Motherson acquires global rearview mirror business of Visiocorp , company announcement, March 6, 2009
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schwaikheim community: ALFRED SCHEFENACKER (1912-1995). Retrieved June 11, 2020 .