Italy’s UFI opens Chongqing plant, its sixth in China

Source: Xinhua | 2019-06-11

Italian firm UFI Filters Group, a world leader in filtration technologies and thermal management, inaugurated another manufacturing plant in China on June 6, reinforcing its confidence in the world’s largest auto market.

The Sofima Automotive Filter (Chongqing) Co Ltd, with a total investment of 25 million euros (US$28.1 million), is located in the Italo-Chinese Chongqing Industrial Park. It is UFI Filters’ 17th industrial site in the world and the sixth in China.

Giorgio Girondi, chairman of UFI Filters Group, said the opening of the new industrial site in Chongqing is based on the firm’s constant growth in the Chinese market, which is now expanding in the southwest region to better serve a growing original equipment manufactures’ hub. “Thinking global and acting local is a basic principle for UFI Filters,” Girondi said. “It is to support our customers in their production efforts.”

Many auto companies, including Changan, Great Wall Motors, BAIC and SGMW, all have strong presence in Chongqing, creating a huge demand for upstream products and services.

The new plant will provide a complete range of applications, including fuel, oil, compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas filters, as well as air filters, air intake systems and cabin filters; service filters such as urea, carbon canister, blow-by filters for passenger cars and heavy-duty and many more vehicles.

The Chongqing plant will hire more than 200 people within the year, bringing a significant economic benefit to the region and reinforcing its status as a company with strong social responsibility.

The choice of Chongqing as the location is also a demonstration of the company’s commitment to the Belt and Road Initiative as the city in southwest China is a strategic place along the route.

The debut of the factory followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding to jointly promote the Belt and Road Initiative during President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Italy in March.

Rinaldo Facchini, CEO of UFI, said the company will bring the most advanced technologies to Chongqing and offer the best solutions for customers here.

“As part of UFI’s global strategy of providing a better and efficient service to main global automotive brands, the new high-tech facility aims to serve the growing manufacturing area in the region,” Fachini said.

Extending for more than 17,000 square meters, the new plant has a nearly 14,000-square-meter space dedicated to the production of high-technology filtering systems for the most important local original equipment manufacturers.

Luca Biagini, chief operation officer of UFI Asia-Pacific, said China is a very important market for UFI despite the country suffering a major setback in terms of auto sales last year.

“We are confident in China’s car market as the country is already a leader in new-energy vehicles and that bodes well for future development,” Biagini said.

Founded in 1971, UFI serves a wide range of sectors — from automotive, aerospace and marine to specialized industrial and customized hydraulic applications.

Renowned for its innovation, UFI products and know-how are to be found in all kinds of vehicles — from Ferrari and other top Formula One teams to the European ExoMars spacecraft. Seven out of ten teams in F1 use UFI Filters and at every Grand Prix over 100 of UFI’s products are used.

UFI supplies the full range of air, oil, fuel, cabin, hydraulic and coolant filters as well as thermal management systems to the automotive sector, meeting the needs of nearly all car brands and motorcycles as well as commercial, heavy-duty and agricultural vehicles. In the original equipment market, UFI is a leading filtration provider.

The group has always been a pioneer in the production of filters in China, landing in the country in 1982 and with first investments as a wholly foreign owned enterprise in 1996. It has six industrial sites, among which four are in Shanghai, one in Changchun, northeast Jilin Province, and now one is in Chongqing.

UFI’s research and development capabilities also go from strength to strength. The company established an R&D center in 2000 in Shanghai and it currently employs more than 80 people. Over the past few years, the center has been working on products that reduce emissions and preserve the environment. The team has also developed some important technology for new-energy vehicles, with key priorities on emission reduction and performance improvement.