• Agreement signed with long-term partner Starlite Co. Ltd.
• International profile strengthened
• Asia an important market

Mannheim/Germany, Osaka/Japan, 29 August 2016... The plastics specialist Röchling is strengthening its international profile. Röchling Automotive has signed a joint venture agreement with the Japanese company Starlite Co. Ltd., an Osaka-based manufacturer of automotive parts and industrial products. The sales and development joint venture, which will officially start on 1 September 2016, will be subsequently converted into a production joint venture.

“Starlite has been our partner in Japan ever since 2008. We have a history of a very positive, fruitful, and trusting cooperation,” says Gerhard Neidinger, Executive Board member of Röchling Automotive and Head of the Asia region. With the establishment of a joint venture, this cooperation will gain an even more stable foundation, Neidinger indicated.

For years Röchling Automotive has supplied many important Japanese automobile manufacturers with air flaps, windshield cowls, degas bottles, and SCR tanks made from plastics. Whether it be Mazda, Nissan, Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi or Toyota – the previous sales cooperation with Starlite helped Röchling Automotive provide quick and reliable support to Japanese car manufacturers locally. In the future, plastics products for the Japanese automotive industry will also be jointly developed and manufactured.

Starlite is also pleased with the successful signing of the agreement. “In the automotive area, our company relies on innovations that contribute to reduced emissions, weight and fuel consumption. With Röchling Automotive and its technologically superior plastics applications we have found the perfect partner here,” said Takamitsu Saigo, Chief Executive Officer of the Starlite Group. Founded in 1936, Starlite is represented at twelve locations in Japan and at six locations outside of the country. Around the world, 1,900 employees work for Starlite and its subsidiaries. It has 530 employees in Japan.

Röchling Automotive has grown rapidly in Asia in recent years, primarily in China. By now the Company maintains five state-of-the-art production sites in Asia. It also leads the market for active air flaps and is one of the leading intake manifold manufacturers in China. “The founding of our first Japanese joint venture underscores the significance that the Asian market has for us,” says Erwin Doll, President & CEO of Röchling Automotive. Together with Starlite we will expand our business activities.