Aftermarket April 2022

S ome companies never do things by halves, and are always pushing towards the next thing. When we visited Hella at its UK base in Northamptonshire, the company was having a busy time. If the release of three new pieces of diagnostic equipment, the ostensive purpose of our visit, was not enough to keep staff busy, the company had recently been bought by Faurecia, as was covered in the March issue of Aftermarket. Strong brands Commenting on the impact of Hella’s new status, Hella Managing Director Neil Grant said: “The Faurecia purchase of 80% of the Hella shares was completed at the end of February. We still have 20% of the shares held by minority shareholders, so it is not just a simple case of us becoming a part of Faurecia. Hella remains as a separate, listed entity with our own governance structure and reporting lines, not just in the UK but globally as well.” 54 AFTERMARKET APRIL 2022 ON THE ROAD www.aftermarketonline.net In the midst of a change of circumstances, Hella introduced a trio of new tools recently, and Aftermarket went to find out more WELCOME TO THE REVOLUTION The company will continue to maintain its identity, running alongside Faurecia under the new umbrella name Forvia. Neil observed: “We have joined forces with Faurecia, and therefore an umbrella group has been created as Forvia. With two strong brands, we will keep the Hella branding for years to come, but we will introduce more about Forvia along the way. We have some strong brands, with Hella, Hella Gutmann Solutions, HELLA Hengst and HELLA Valuefit. They will all remain as they are. Faurecia are very much into seating, interiors and clean mobility, and they will still be looked after at the headquarters in France. We have three business groups that are looked after at our H.Q in Lippstadt, Germany.” Opportunities The new position within the larger company does mean new opportunities for Hella and its customers. On the kind of product the tie-up could mean gets brought to UK garages, Neil commented: “There are a lot of Faurecia Above: Neil Hilton demonstrating the macsRemote