Sitting back and enjoying the growth.

This Michigan-based, Tier 2 automotive supplier is a trusted leader in a fiercely competitive global market. The company’s sophisticated safety mechanisms can be found in the interiors of the world’s finest automobiles. In order to thrive, they must be able to do business wherever their demanding OEM customers do business, including China, Mexico, India, Korea, Europe, and North America.

Over the last 15 years, Plante & Moran Global Services has gone into new markets ahead of the company’s expansion, preparing the groundwork for seamless start-ups and profitable ongoing operations. In Mexico in the mid-1990s, we helped identify partners, qualify engineering resources, and conduct dependable quality audits. We set up an engineering and sales office in Europe in 2003 to provide liaison services to the company’s European OEMs. With our assistance, our client opened an engineering office in India in 2004, complete with a 24-hour CAD capability.

And in China, we recently worked with the company to identify the best location for a sales and marketing office to accelerate their involvement in China’s booming domestic market. Our assistance included recruiting and interviews of potential staff for their new office, as well as identifying and evaluating appropriate office space. Within four months of opening, our client was awarded business by a domestic Chinese manufacturer. We are now helping develop their manufacturing base, finding the most capable suppliers of components, such as fine blankings, stampings, and other critical subcomponents.