The Philippine Star

IMI widens Europe presence with Serbia facility

- – Iris Gonzales

Ayala-led Integrated MicroElect­ronics Inc. (IMI), the fifth largest automotive electronic­s manufactur­ing services in the world, has inaugurate­d its manufactur­ing facility in Serbia, marking an even wider presence in Europe’s growing automative components market. in the European region.

IMI is a subsidiary of AC Industrial Technology Holdings Inc., Ayala Corp.’s industrial and automotive arm.

“With IMI, we now open the doors to the future – the 21st century, and we are now part of the global trends,” said Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić last month at the opening of the facility, a 14,000 square meter factory located at Lozni Kalem in Niska Banja, Ni.

IMI and AC Industrial­s CEO Arthur Tan said IMI would be a significan­t contributo­r to the digital car of tomorrow.

Tan said IMI has become a partner-of-choice in building technologi­es like sensing cameras, advanced driver assistance systems, lighting, body control modules, battery management and displays.

“This investment also forms part of the continuing effort of IMI and AC Industrial­s to assemble a global manufactur­ing platform capable of capitalizi­ng on key megatrends such as increasing electronic­s in vehicles, autonomous driving, the shift to electric power, and shared mobility,” Tan said.

The new IMI factory will boost the manufactur­ing of electronic car components in the region and further develop the Serbian economy, contributi­ng to the country’s competitiv­eness as an investment location.

“The new manufactur­ing site will be an extension of IMI Bulgaria and is in anticipati­on of what we see as a pipeline of contracts,” said IMI Serbia president Gilles Bernard.

IMI Serbia, the company’s 21st factory, will complement production facilities in the Philippine­s, China, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as the production facilities of other AC Industrial­s companies in Germany, Thailand, US and the Philippine­s.

AC Industrial­s intends to develop, commercial­ize, and scale up businesses in industries, such as automotive, that are ready to be disrupted by the emerging megatrends of mobility, connectivi­ty, and smart energy.

AC Industrial­s combines IMI’s manufactur­ing expertise and platform with the rest of the AC Industrial­s group’s capabiliti­es in vehicle design, proprietar­y solar solutions, unique display technologi­es, and deep customer knowledge and relationsh­ips from the motorcycle, automotive distributi­on and retail businesses to deliver an end-to-end value propositio­n to the group’s customers.

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