(Reuters) – French car parts maker Forvia wants to cut its Research and development (R&D) costs by half by 2028 thanks mainly to generative artificial intelligence (AI) to keep up with electrification challenges and Asian competition in the automotive industry.
The world’s 7th largest car equipment supplier, born from the French group Faurecia’s takeover of Germany’s Hella, currently employs 157,000 people worldwide, including more than 15,000 engineers in 76 R&D centres.
“50% (…) is scary for two reasons”, Forvia CEO Patrick Koller told journalists. “First it is huge and will require a lot of restructuring, but above all, if you don’t do it, within three to five years, you are out of the game,” he added.
Forvia’s CEO did not specify whether such a drastic transformation would mean job cuts.
(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume, writing by Diana Mandia; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
