​Kautex Wuhan: Laying the Groundwork for a New Facility

November 13, 2016

Do you remember who we were in 1935?

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In 1935, Dr. Reinhold Hagen founded the galvanic shops and later on set up his business with 47 employees in only one location - in Bonn. Since then, Kautex developed blow-molding machines and blow-molded hollow bodies before successfully moving into the automotive industry - by constructing the first plastic fuel tank. Starting as a family business, Kautex began to expand into international markets. In 1984 with a plant in Spain, then North America in 1986 and the first Asian plant in 1996.

Today, 82 years after Dr. Reinold Hagen set up the foundations for Kautex, we are one of the 100 largest automotive suppliers in the world, with more than 30 facilities in 14 countries. Only on November 13th 2016, Kautex Wuhan (KWH) celebrated its first anniversary and held a Grand Opening Ceremony of our newest facility in China. Kautex Wuhan is located in the Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) in China's Hubei Province and was the first company that introduced the leading technology of flexible welders in Asia.

Jane Wang shares the development of the Wuhan facility – and the teamwork – that led to a successful plant launch in March.

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Since its launch in November 2015, the face of Kautex Wuhan has undoubtedly changed.

From the very beginning in November last year, nothing was here. Kautex Wuhan made a start-up out of nothing in the first year, all the employees enjoyed an exciting year seeing the building rising from the ground up, welcoming around 20 employees into plant gradually, bringing NGFS machines and welding machines in from abroad.

-Each of us has experienced the whole process from nothing to something, from nobody to a team-

We are proud of what we have accomplished since the groundbreaking. And we believe with the strong leadership from management and endeavor from all of us, we will have an even stronger future David Shi, Director, Operations, Kautex Wuhan

The team of Kautex Wuhan is a vibrant team with members of different backgrounds and working experiences. It´s employees who have been with the company over years and transferred from other plant to KWH, who newly joined KWH with their specialist knowledge and vast experience and also entry-level talents full of motivation and energy.

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Staring out as a small group of several members, KWH has turned into a community of more than 20 employees. Together they have learned to work with cutting edge machines and operating systems. With an unwavering dedication and the support from sister companies from their China homeland to all across the globe, they set their feet at this milestone today.

Throughout the past year, all employees supported the program smoothly and did the best to provide products with unique and demanding performance requirements to the customers.

For the coming years, it’s clear to see there are opportunities going alongside with the challenges. The KWH team will be working closely with customers and vendors to identify and develop high-quality products, assuring consistent quality and rigorous attention to maintain high standards of performance, banding together to meet the challenges and always looking for the opportunities to improve.

Let’s give Kautex Wuhan endless brand-new wishes!

We also want to thank our fellow team members across Kautex for their hard work and dedication – it was truly a global team effort that made this opening day a success. Wayne Shen,President, Kautex Asia

About Kautex

At Kautex, we are driving the future. As a Tier One automotive supplier with more than 30 plants in 13 countries, Kautex designs, develops and manufactures traditional and hybrid fuel systems, advanced cleaning solutions for assisted and autonomous driving, engine camshafts and plastic industrial packaging solutions. A pioneer in the design and manufacture of automotive plastic fuel systems, Kautex is expanding its portfolio to offer smart products and data-driven services to our customers, including thermoplastic composite and composite-metal hybrid battery systems. From a lightweight battery system to a hybrid fuel system to autonomous drive vehicle cleaning systems, Kautex is committed to pioneering solutions for the era of new mobility.

Our employees are part of a global community committed to solving customer needs, leveraging diverse skillsets, making sustainability a differentiator, embracing the diversity that is part of a global, multi-industry leader and creating an environment where employees can build a dynamic career. Together, we are reimagining the future of mobility.

About Textron Inc.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, and Textron Systems. For more information, visit: www.textron.com

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

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