New technologies bring plenty of opportunities for Vibracoustic

DARMSTADT, Germany—Vibracoustic GmbH has a presence throughout the automobile.

Yet if it does its job effectively, drivers won't even know their products are there.

The Darmstadt-based automotive supplier is the global leader in anti-vibration parts—including chassis and engine mounts, air springs, and dampers—with what it says is 18 percent of the market. The firm is present in 19 countries, all major regions, with 43 sites worldwide, including 23 research and development locations. It employs 9,988 people with sales of about $2.56 billion.

"Most drivers don't know we exist in the car," said Vibracoustic CEO Frank Mueller, who has led the company since 2015. "We're only about 1 percent of the vehicle. But the moment our product isn't in there—on your steering wheel, your seat or your gas pedal—you would feel it immediately."

Vibracoustic was a 50-50 joint venture between the Freudenberg Group and Trelleborg A.B., but in April 2016 Freudenberg came to an agreement to assume full ownership in a deal that was finalized in July of that year.

Mueller said that while Trelleborg is no longer part of the venture, the strategy has remained the same under Freudenberg. Vibracoustic traditionally has grown at double the pace relative to the market, according to Mueller.

And the firm is investing to support that growth, especially in Asia-Pacific.

Recently, Vibracoustic increased production at its plant in Rayong, Thailand, to meet increasing customer demands—with further projects launched in 2017.

It also continued its expansion into the Chinese market with 40 new products successfully launched at its site in Yantai, China. Its second site in Wuxi is almost at full capacity, which has caused Vibracoustic to explore options for a third factory in China.

"We have been and still are an independently operated company with all the structure behind it," Mueller said. "Freudenberg has been a very supportive shareholder and are now even more supportive. It's fair to say there's no real operational change. There's a very strong commitment from Freudenberg to stay invested in the anti-vibration business."

Future unknowns

The German automotive supplier is not immune to megatrends. Like others, it too is assessing the potential impact of electric and autonomous vehicles.

But Mueller also is not worried about either technology platform. Like with traditional models, they will require noise, anti-vibration and harshness products, which plays right into Vibracoustic's portfolio.

"Like every supplier and OEM, there's more that we don't know than we know," Mueller said. "There's a lot of uncertainty in the market. How the market really develops around these megatrends is yet to be seen. It depends a lot on market regulation and legislation topics, the OEM's strategies and, of course, technology and costs."

Mueller said in the mid-term, hybrids will be a significant vehicle platform for Vibracoustic. With two engines and drives, there are more causes for noise and vibration creation.

Electric vehicles are a very small portion of the overall fleet, but Mueller said eventually they could have a major impact. He added that before those vehicles become widespread, the industry will need to solve the range problem.

Right now, the charging infrastructure places limitations on how far electric vehicles can travel. Until that is solved, customers will be slow to buy in, Mueller said.

If they do begin to take a larger part of the market, as forecasts project, engines will be quieter. Mueller said this will make the comfort of noise and vibration significantly more demanding.

"The position we have in the automotive market—on the top 20 platforms globally, we're working with every global OEM—gives us the unique opportunity to work with the customer on these future platforms," he said.

"We believe there is a lot of opportunity because the need for comfort is going to be a lot bigger than it is today. The sensitivity is going to be much higher than it is now."

New developments

Vibracoustic's air springs business has seen significant growth in the past couple of years, and Mueller said this likely will continue into 2018.

The firm recently launched production of a switchable three-chamber air spring system. The new product was designed to resolve conflicting issues—comfort and driving dynamics—by switching individual air chambers on and off. This enables the stiffness of the springs to be altered during the trip to influence the vehicle's handling.

Going forward, Mueller said electric vehicles will continue to demand air springs for a variety of reasons, primarily to level the car for strong aerodynamics. Second, with respect to the battery, Mueller said the right angling and placement of the air spring would allow OEMs to get the air flow the way they need it.

Air springs are also quieter than a steel spring.

"It's huge," Mueller said. "Everything that the car manufacturer does to get a more efficient engine is causing a majority of the parts to have less comfort and more disruption. When you go to start-stop, you have a completely different behavior with the noise and vibration within the framework of your car. That's where our know-how comes into play."