Automotive supplier Webasto has acquired Carlex Glass Luxembourg SA. The company produces glass elements for passenger cars at its site in Grevenmacher (Luxembourg) and was previously part of Carlex Glass America, LLC (Nashville, Tennessee, USA).
Webasto regards himself as the market leader for sliding, panoramic and convertible roofs. The company aims to further develop its offering in this product group with pioneering technologies and materials. “Electromobility and autonomous driving are having a major impact on the development of car roofs. Thus, the demand for increasingly ‘intelligent’ roofs is growing,” says Holger Engelmann, CEO of Webasto SE. In this context, glass as a material is of particular importance, says Engelmann.
Freddy Geeraerds, member of the Webasto Executive Board with global responsibility for the Group’s roof business, adds: “Building up expertise in glass production opens up many new possibilities for us, for example in the areas of switchable glazing, ambient lighting or solar roofs. These functionalities are no longer only in demand in the premium segment, but increasingly also for volume vehicles in the small and medium classes. In addition, ‘smart glass’ is also playing an increasingly important role in autonomous driving cars, for which we have also developed the Roof Sensor Module, for example in terms of privacy, safety and entertainment.”
The former Carlex plant in Grevenmacher with its approximately 500 employees has been part of the Webasto Group since August 9. In the future, the glass experts will work together with their colleagues in development and validation for roof systems at the headquarters in Stockdorf near Munich. The new location operates under the name Webasto Luxembourg S.A.
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