French auto supplier Plastic Omnium SA has reported a 32.8 percent year-on-year growth in sales in the first quarter of 2017 to over 2 billion euros ($2.17 billion), due in part to the acquisition of fellow supplier Faurecia's exterior systems business last summer.
In its quarterly statement, the French group said its automotive business had an organic growth of 16.8 percent, outperforming global automotive production by 10.9 points.
"In the three months to the end of March, automotive sales for Plastic Omnium amounted to 1.95 billion euros ($2.12 billion), up 35.4 percent compared to the same period last year," the company announced.
The figure includes 251 million euros ($272 million) of revenue from the exteriors systems business acquired from Faurecia in July 2016.
With sport utility vehicles now at the core of growth in the automotive industry, Plastic Omnium said its positioning within the segment was "strong."
According to the French automotive supplier, the SUV segment comprised 42 percent of its quarterly sales.
“In Europe, growth was driven by the success of SUVs with the commissioning of the plant in Liverpool, U.K., for the Jaguar Land Rover Group, and by the ramp-up of the Peugeot 3008 and 5008 models in France,” the group went on to say.
Additionally, new production capacities in North America — two plants commissioned in 2015 in the U.S. and two plants in Mexico in 2016 — combined with the forecast growth of emissions control systems for diesel vehicles, resulted in growth in business.
Growth in Asia was driven by Japan, India and China. In China, the group recorded a growth of 27.3 percent over the 1st quarter of 2017, and increased plant utilization levels at its 26 Chinese factories.
“The group is growing its presence with local Chinese manufacturers, which by the year 2021 will account for 30 percent of Plastic Omnium's revenue in China, versus 15 percent in 2017,” the company added.
