MANN+HUMMEL in France: About the new location in Laval
Further growth with a well-coordinated team
Interview with Harald Späth (President & General Manager Original Equipment) and Simon Frick (Senior Vice President Sales IAM Europe)
In October 2022, the MANN+HUMMEL Group completed the sale of its global high-performance plastic parts business to Mutares SE & Co. KGaA. As part of the transaction, Mutares not only took over products beyond filtration and separation solutions but also three MANN+HUMMEL production sites: Bad Harzburg, Sonneberg (Lower Saxony and Thuringia), and the site in Laval (France) with a total of around 1,500 employees.
MANN+HUMMEL will continue to be active in France even after the sale. Harald Späth and Simon Frick explain the strategy for the French market and the importance of the Laval site for MANN+HUMMEL.
The sale of the high-performance plastic parts business also brought changes for the Laval site. What impact does the move have on the French market?
New MANN+HUMMEL site in Laval
Harald Späth: France continues to be an important market for MANN+HUMMEL. The transfer of the previous site in Laval to Mutares does not mean that MANN+HUMMEL will withdraw from the French market - quite the opposite! All our activities around filtration and separation solutions will continue unchanged. At our new site, also located in Laval, we want to grow further and intend to expand our Heavy Duty & Industrial business in the Original Equipment segment. We will passionately continue our long-standing customer relationships, in particular with the French Original Equipment Manufacturer. In the automotive sector in particular, we currently have extremely exciting projects in the area of new drive systems.
Simon Frick: For the Independent Aftermarket (IAM), France is one of the largest markets in Europe - and we continue to see a lot of potential. The production facility sold in Laval did not manufacture any IAM products, therefore the sale has no impact on our aftermarket customers. Our warehouse in Laval, where our IAM filters are stored, will also remain and become our new headquarters in France. Market consolidation continues in France, but we are confident about the dynamics thanks to our aftermarket strategy.
Why did MANN+HUMMEL decide to stay in Laval after the sale?
Harald Späth: We deliberately chose this location and opened a new site in Laval after the sale of the division, as we already had an enormous amount of local know-how as well as a perfectly coordinated and, above all, highly competent team. Our customers and partners are all over France, and we have an ideal location for MANN+HUMMEL in France with Laval, which has good transport links.
Harald Späth (President & General Manager Original Equipment)
Professional career
Harald Späth is President & General Manager Original Equipment. He joined MANN+HUMMEL in 1995 and was, among other things, Vice President Global Sales and Project Management for the passenger car sector for seven years. After serving as Managing Director of MANN+HUMMEL in England, he assumed responsibility for global sales of the then industrial filter business. In September 2017, he was appointed Vice President Global Sales for the restructured Heavy Duty & Industrial (Off-Road and On-Road) division. From February 2019 to February 2021, Harald Späth was Senior Vice President BU Original Equipment Europe, responsible for OE Europe, including Heavy Duty & Industrial and Passenger Cars. In March 2020, Harald Späth took over the function of President & General Manager Original Equipment.
The new site in Laval does not have its own production. How is MANN+HUMMEL positioning itself in this respect?
Harald Späth: Our customers do not produce exclusively in France but throughout Europe. We are still represented in Laval and close to the customer with our teams in key areas such as development, sales, project management and logistics. Production is handled by plants within the entire MANN+HUMMEL network. This means that we are optimally positioned.
Will there be any changes for existing customers due to the new location?
Simon Frick: No, no significant changes. We have reorganized our business under a new legal entity but continue to operate from our offices in Courbevoie and Laval as previously, but this step has no impact on our products or services.
Simon Frick (Senior Vice President Sales IAM Europe)
Professional career
Simon Frick, Senior Vice President Sales IAM Europe, has been responsible for the Independent Aftermarket in Europe across all IAM brands, such as MANN-FILTER, Filtron, and WIX Filters since 2020. He joined MANN+HUMMEL in 2015 as Director Sales IAM Industrial Filtration and has since held various senior positions in European sales. Before that, he worked for an international mechanical engineering company with various sales management positions in Germany, China, and other countries in Asia.
And what is the future direction of MANN+HUMMEL in France?
Simon Frick: France will remain very important for us in the future. We want to position ourselves attractively in both the Original Equipment and Aftermarket segments. It is often said that the pandemic was an accelerator for digitalization. Of course, this also applies to the Aftermarket and the service for our customers, where we are supporting our trade partners more and more in digital cooperation, from digital advertising campaigns to virtual events. Our MANN-FILTER Academy offers online seminars on various topics, such as electromobility to make workshops and wholesalers fit for the future.
Harald Späth: In the future, we will continue to provide our French customers with full on-site support. From the quotation phase to series development and subsequent support. Our pre-development activities will also continue unchanged. As an example, I would mention our cooperation with the university in Nantes, which is known worldwide for its technical programs. So we are very well networked locally and at the same time closely integrated into the global team.
Simon Frick: Our team in Laval is going strong in France and the Benelux: we are represented by three brands and currently have more than 1,000 customers, thousands of customer appointments per year, and hundreds of workshop visits. We look forward to all that will come in the future - both in the IAM and original equipment!
