Automotive OEM Ficosa (Barcelona / Spain; www.ficosa.com) and its majority shareholder, electronics giant Panasonic (Osaka / Japan; www.panasonic.com), which acquired 49% of the company in 2015 – see Plasteurope.com of 20.07.2015 – are working on their first project towards a co-developed product – an interior rear view mirror that facilitates the automatic payment of motorway tolls. The EUR 50m, seven year project will produce the mirror for a major European OEM and will incorporate an electronic toll function that will pay the toll without having to stop the vehicle. The mirrors will be produced at Ficosa’s facility in Viladecavalls, Barcelona / Spain and are intended for use in the Japanese market.

Javier Pujol, Ficosa CEO, said: “We are very pleased because during the first year of our agreement with Panasonic, besides presenting co-developed products, we have also managed to win our first joint contract”.

The mirror has a slot to insert a credit card and incorporates a small screen at the top that reports the amount to be paid. Panasonic has developed the credit card reading module, while Ficosa has been responsible for the electronic management of the system, structural and aesthetic components and the development of a lighting component incorporated in the mirror.

Meanwhile, Ficosa has said it is to establish a manufacturing plant in Jandira, São Paulo / Brazil that will be the group’s central headquarters for operations in the Mercosur trading bloc. The 13,000 m² facility will manufacture rear view mirrors, control and command systems, under-the-hood solutions and electronic systems for automobiles.