JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #117 - November/December 2017 - 24

BUSlNESS strategy
thus paving the way for the
introduction of new energy
vehicle production.

Clustering of
technologies

Industrial synergies : Chinese advanced material manufacturer GON Holding has taken majority stake in Compositence GmbH.

application and industrialization of graphene. Meanwhile,
jointly with its controlling
shareholder Kangde Investment Group, KDX created an
ecological platform for CFRP
for the mainstream market
of new energy automotive
vehicles, achieving the transfer from precursor to carbon
filament and then to the R&D,
design and production of the
whole CFRP industry chain.

solutions for Chinese OEMs.
In addition to the above-mentioned
KDX
Europe
Composites R&D Centre
and KDX-Roding Europe
Automobile Design Centre,
the platform includes two
major China-based plants:
ZAX Technology (ZAX) and
Kangde Composites (KDC),
as well as mass production
technical
support
from
Fritzmeier Group.

The platform is the result
of a joint effort between
the Chinese and German
industries. In March 2015,
the KDX Europe Composites
R&D Centre was established
by KDX, supported by
the Institute for Carbon
Composites of the Technical
University
of
Munich.
The centre focuses on the
European and Chinese markets, providing high-quality
carbon fibre research and development services.
In May 2015, KDX and
Forward Engineering GmbH
(former Roding Technology)
jointly established the KDXRoding Europe Automobile
Design Centre in Munich,
which
mainly
provides
one-stop lightweight design

New cooperation
models
KDX is far from being the
only Chinese company that
went to Munich to set up
R&D or design centres. "The
model of cooperation between
Chinese and German new energy vehicle makers is different
from what it was more than two
decades ago", said Wu Mei,
general manager of Ningbo
Joyson Electronic Corp's subsidiary in Europe. In the past,
the German side contributed
technologies, while the Chinese
pooled funds and explored the
market."
China's electric car startup
NextEV set up its global
design centre in Munich,
Germany, two years ago with
16 employees. As of mid-

2017, the centre has more
than 100 staff members from
more than 20 countries including China, Germany and
Britain.
The
company
launched
three car models: the NIO
EP9 pure electric supercar,
the NIO EVE autonomous
electric concept car, and the
NIO ES8, the first volume
SUV model. "We do not have
the problem of 'Made in China'
or 'Made in Germany'. We hope
to utilize global resources to
provide consumers with the best
products," said Zhang Hui.
Also in June 2017, Beijing
Automotive Group (BAIC
Group) signed a framework
agreement with Daimler AG.
The agreement will centre on
two significant investments.
On the one hand, Daimler
intends to acquire a minority share in Beijing Electric
Vehicle (BJEV), a subsidiary
of the BAIC Group, with the
purpose of strengthening its
strategic collaboration with
BAIC in the new electric vehicle sector. On the other hand,
they will invest in upgrading
the current production facilities at their joint venture
Beijing Benz Automotive Co.,
Ltd. (BBAC), set up in 2005,

jec composites magazine / N°117 November - December 2017

In the case of buy-out transactions, the objective can be
to strengthen a portfolio of
already advanced technologies, as did Shenzhen-listed
GON Technology when
it took a majority stake in
Compositence GmbH in
August 2017. Founded in
2000, GON is a major player
in the modified plastics and
advanced polymer composite
industry whose products
have been widely used in the
home appliances, automotive,
electronics, machinery and
construction industries, and
was appointed as a strategic
supplier of Faurecia in 2017.
Compositence is a German
company specializing since
2014 in innovative preforming technologies for carbon,
glass and other fibre types,
and a supplier of tailored preforms. The company asserts
having established a unique
automated fibre placement
technology driven by its
fibre experience and aiming
at high-volume application
sectors such as mobility, aerospace and wind energy.
"We feel Asia is currently
the main emerging market
worldwide, with the strongest
potential in China. China has
the absolute will for change
and is strongly driving the
utilisation of carbon and glass
fibres in mobility applications.
With GON, we gained a topclass partner with an advanced
material background and
market access, as well as the
right mind-set to provide a
unique know-how with a longterm perspective. By melting

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #117 - November/December 2017