In 1917, Lear Group, one of the world's largest auto parts manufacturers, was born in Detroit, USA.
In 1994, Lear traveled across the ocean and landed in the Eastern "Detroit", joining hands with Dongfeng Company to establish Wuhan Youde, specializing in automotive wiring harnesses, automotive electrical appliances and other businesses.
In 2004, Lear moved forward quickly. First, it joined hands with Wuhan Yunhe Automotive Seat Co., Ltd. to establish Wuhan Lear Yunhe, and then joined hands with Dongfeng Company and Dongfeng Co., Ltd. to form Dongfeng Lear.
Recently, reporters came to Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone, and the four characters "Li Er Yunhe" came towards them, which attracted people's attention. Not far away, the logo flags of Lear with a red background and Dongfeng with a red background and white images stood side by side, flying high.
Settling in Wuhan, Li Eryunhe chose a good day: the same day as Dongfeng Peugeot 307 rolled off the assembly line.
The meaning couldn’t be clearer. With an initial investment of 100 million yuan to create an annual production capacity of 300,000 seat assemblies and seat frame assemblies, Lear Yunhe is targeting the exclusive seat supporting industry for Shenlong's sedan series.
Based on Shenlong, Lear has rapidly expanded its territory in the Chinese automobile market.
In 2003, Dongfeng joined hands with Nissan, adding another new force to the Hubei automobile industry. Lear, who sensed a strong business opportunity, quickly extended an "olive branch".
The following year, Dongfeng Lear was officially established. It established commercial vehicle seat production bases in Shiyan and Xiangfan, a passenger car seat production base in Wuhan, and Guangzhou Taili Automotive Seat Co., Ltd. in Huadu. The company provides supporting products for Dongfeng Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Yuanfeng, a subsidiary of Dongfeng.
From Shenlong to Nissan, the booming development of Wuhan's automobile industry has made this company, which ranks first in the global market share of car seats, like a duck in water. The sales targets of Lear Yunhe and Dongfeng Lear both climbed by 1 billion yuan.
After 14 years of intensive cultivation in Wuhan, the city’s importance has become increasingly important in Lear’s global map. Last year, Lear's global president Bob Rossiter flew to Jiangcheng to pay a special visit to its "important partner" Dongfeng Company. Prior to this, its senior management had visited frequently, with only one purpose: hoping to get a bigger share of the Shenlong Motors' production expansion. "Hubei makes us satisfied." said the person in charge of Wuhan Youde. Compared with 14 years ago, Hubei's open environment has undergone gratifying changes. A good industrial foundation, well-trained technical workers, distinctive industrial characteristics, and convenient transportation and logistics make this central province stand out.
Starting from Hubei, Lear quickly moved westward, established Wuhan Youde Chongqing Branch, and became the exclusive supplier of Changan Ford automobile wiring harness. Liuzhou Dongfeng Lear Fangsheng Automotive Seat Co., Ltd. is a joint venture established with Guangxi Xisheng Industrial Co., Ltd. ("Guangxi Xisheng Industrial") and Wuhan Xinyunhe Automotive Seat Co., Ltd. ("Wuhan Xinyunhe").
The influx of a large number of new projects and new orders forced Lear to speed up its investment pace. This year, a new factory of more than 10,000 square meters will be expanded in Zhuankou. Lear hopes that the expansion of production capacity can keep up with the development of China's automobile industry.