French automotive components supplier Plastic Omnium (Levallois; www.plasticomnium.com) has finalised the EUR 200m sale of seven European sites (four in France, one in Spain and two in Germany) to the US bumpers manufacturer Flex-N-Gate (Urbana, Illinois; www.flexngate.com) – see Plasteurope.com of 04.01.2017. Plastic Omnium must sell the production sites as a requirement from the European Commission for the takeover of Faurecia's (Nanterre / France, www.faurecia.com) "Automotive Exteriors" division.

Plastic Omnium has started the construction of two new manufacturing facilities in the USs. The plants in South Carolina and Tennessee are the third and fourth new plants that Plastic Omnium has built in the country during the past three years, with investment totalling USD 300m (EUR 280m).

The Greer, South Carolina plant will deliver all large exterior painted body parts to BMW for its "X3", "X4", "X5" and "X6" range as well as future models produced at the adjacent site. It will also supply exterior components for Volvo in South Carolina and Daimler in Alabama. Plastic Omnium said the Greer facility will be its pilot “4.0 plant”, designed to further improve industrial processes, quality, automation, standardisation and the competitiveness of its production.

The Tennessee plant will produce fuel systems for an undisclosed Japanese carmaker. Both facilities are scheduled to go on stream in mid-2018. The French firm said the additional capacities will support its market share gains in North America and allow it to boost its revenue in the region, which is already the company’s highest-performing market with sales of USD 1.4 bn in 2016.

The plants are part of a EUR 2.5 bn investment programme for the period 2016-2020 by which Plastic Omnium aims to consolidate its position as world leader in its two automotive divisions: exterior components, where it holds 15% of the market; and fuel systems, where it has a 21% share.