Winterthur, Switzerland -- Autoneum, an acoustic foam supplier to the global auto industry, saw sales grow 5.8% from 2012 to 2013, the company said in a statement.
Sales were CHF 2.05bn ($2.53bn) in 2013 compared with CHF 1.94 bn in 2012, driven by its products' presence in successful new models and gains in market share, according to the firm. Autoneum added that in local currencies and accounting for the sale of its Italian subsidiary Autoneum SpA to mutares AG -- a German holding company in July 2013-- sales were up 9.9% on a like for like basis.
The company's statement also gave a snapshot of the automotive industry in 2013. According to the firm, in 2013, global light vehicle production grew 3.1% to 84.0m vehicles from 81.5 m in 2012.
Growth was patchy across the world, said Autoneum. Car production by volume grew again in North America by 4.8% but this growth rate was less than in 2012. In Asia, excluding Japan, the market grew by 7.1% without Japan.
Autoneum said that in Europe, production was slightly positive, up by 0.3% in unit terms, compared with 2012. In South America, the Middle East, Africa and Russia (SAMEA) unit production dropped by 0.9%.
The company said it "significantly outpaced the respective markets and increased its sales in local currencies in all regions."
Autoneum added that weak demand in the European market was offset by gains in market share. In North America, the rise in sales was mainly due to market growth and having components on high-selling models, Autoneum said.
Autoneum said that in 2013 it had gained new customer orders for high-volume models which contributed greatly to strong sales growth in Asia. Also in the SAMEA market region, growth in local currencies noticeably outpaced the market thanks to sales increases in Argentina and Turkey, Autoneum added.
Currency conversion 22 January 2014 $1=CHF0.91
