Fuyao Group
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| SSE: 600660 (A share) SEHK: 3606 (H share) | |
| Industry | Glass manufacturing |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Founder | Cao Dewang |
| Headquarters | , China |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Cao Dewang (chairman) |
| Products | Automotive glass |
Number of employees | 10,000 |
| Website | fuyaogroup.com |
Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd. (Chinese: 福耀玻璃工业集团股份有限公司) is a manufacturing company in the People's Republic of China, engaged in the production of float glass, automobile glass and construction glass. It is one of the largest auto glass producers in the world,[1] with customers including large international automobile manufacturers such as Ford, General Motors, Subaru and Volkswagen Group. It was established in 1987 as a joint venture company and is headquartered in Fuqing, Fujian. It was listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1993 and on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2015.[2][3]
History
Cao Dewang founded Fuyao in Fuqing, Fujian Province 1987 with several business partners.[4] He had previous experience having taken over management of a glass factory owned by a local government. While there were few major buyers of automobiles at first, his company targeted the market of replacement glass for large numbers of imported vehicles into China.[5] The name derives from the first character in the name of the city of Fuqing (福 fú) and the Chinese word meaning "shine" (耀 yào).
The company formed a joint venture with Saint-Gobain in 1996 with the French firm's 51 percent stake valued at $15.3 million. Three years later, Cao bought the stake back for $30 million.[6]
Fuyao became an original equipment manufacturer to General Motors in June 2006.[6] Later that year, it signed an agreement with Goldman Sachs to sell 111 million new shares, to raise about ¥890 million ($137 million). In March 2007, Fuyao landed a contract supplying Bentley. That year, foreign sales contributed ¥5.17 billion, or almost $795 million, almost 28 percent of its sales that year. By that time, it was the fifth-largest maker of automotive glass in the world, with an estimated three percent market share, and held 60 percent market share of the automotive glass market in China.[4].[4]
Fuyao Glass America Inc.
In 2013, Fuyao began looking at establishing a factory presence in the United States, considering several sites in Ohio and Michigan before deciding on the former General Motors Moraine Assembly plant in Moraine, Ohio. Its initial commitment to the factory, which was made public in January 2014, was to buy 1.4 million square feet of the plant from Industrial Realty Group and invest $250 million into an auto glass production facility which would create 800 jobs. In 2014, it bought a float glass plant in Mount Zion, Illinois. In 2016, it announced an additional $131 million investment to add additional after-market glass lines at the plant, bringing it to 24 production lines. In exchange it received $6.6 million in incentives from JobsOhio. By then, the company planned to produce enough auto glass for 4 million to 5 million automobiles a year,[7] taking advantage of retraction in the U.S. auto market during the Great Recession.[8] By the time the plant entered full-scale production in October 2016, the company had invested $1 billion in the U.S. subsidiary, with long-term plans to grow to 5,000 employees in the United States.[9]
The plant saw some obstacles including concerns about safety, and workers lobbied unsuccessfully to form a union via the United Auto Workers in 2017.[10]
Employees filed cases with National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) against the company and won settlements totaling $120,000.[11] Complaints made to the NLRB included allegations of unfair labor practices.[11][12] The company has also been fined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.[11][13]
An Academy Award winning documentary, American Factory, was made about the plant in 2019, featuring themes of cultural conflict and management opposition to unionisation.[14]
References
Citations
- ^ "As clear as glass". maersk.com. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ Khouri, Christina (2014-11-04). "Fuyao Glass breaks for HK IPO". GlobalCapital. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ Ho, Prudence (2015-03-15). "Fuyao Glass Raises US$951 Million in Hong Kong IPO". Wall Street Journal. Hong Kong. Retrieved 2017-09-05.
- ^ a b c Ling 2008, pp. 1–3.
- ^ Ling 2008, pp. 7–10.
- ^ a b Ling 2008, pp. 4–6.
- ^ Navera, Tristan (2016-10-07). "Fuyao Glass America Inc., a Timeline". Dayton Business Journal. Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ Navera, Tristan (2016-06-23). "Fuyao aims to be the 'backbone of the North American glass industry". Dayton Business Journal. Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ Navera, Tristan (2016-10-07). "Fuyao's new target: 5,000 U.S. jobs". Dayton Business Journal. Dayton, Ohio. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ Scheiber, Noam (2017-11-09). "Chinese-Owned Factory in Ohio Fights Off Unionization Plan". New York Times. New York City. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
- ^ a b c Voytko, Lisette (September 20, 2019). "Fired 'American Factory' Workers Successfully Fought Back". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Gnau, Thomas (Aug 27, 2019). "BREAKING: Fuyao fined for firing workers, newly revealed records show". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Fuyao Glass America Inc. Faces $724,380 in Federal Penalties After U.S. Department of Labor Finds Multiple Hazards at Ohio Plant | Occupational Safety and Health Administration". OSHA. July 29, 2019. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Liu, Yujing (2019-09-01). "Why Fuyao – focus of Obama's American Factory – is under pressure". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2019-09-23.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
Books
- Ling, Zhu (2008), Building Wealth in China: 36 True Stories of Chinese Millionaires, New York City: Random House, Inc., ISBN 978-0-307-59162-3