Lanxess Automotive Day - Energizing Poland!

Driving customer success: LANXESS is staging the "Automotive Day Poland" in Warsaw on October 27 und 28. The topic will be “Developments and Innovations for Modern Mobility” bringing together experts of the Polish automobile industry like the key note speakers from Volkswagen and MAN. Among other topics, LANXESS will present high-tech rubber and plastics solutions for the mobility of tomorrow: technology expertise meets automotive industry!

Before „Automotive Day Poland“, Flemming B. Björnslev spoke to us about the market, current tendencies and why it is important to be in the right place with the right event. Where the automotive industry is king!

LANXESS: Mr. Björnslev, you head of the LANXESS operations in Central Eastern Europe. Could you just quickly give a brief overview of the last years?

Björnslev:Our subsidiary is a very young member of the LANXESS family. It was founded in 2008 to manage the business activities of all Busienss Units in the growth markets of Central and Eastern Europe. We chose Bratislava to be the location of the Headquarters and other sales offices were set up in Vienna, Budapest and Warsaw. Our “mission” is to supply mainly national and international tire manufacturers with our rubber specialties, more and more of whom are expanding their production capacities in Central and Eastern Europe. A year ago we successfully staged our first “Automotive Day” in Bratislava – and now we are bringing that event to Warsaw in Poland – that has a big share in CEE sales.

LANXESS:You have invited many customers and guest speakers from companies like Volkswagen Poland to the first-ever “Automotive Day” in Poland. Why exactly are you staging this event here?

Björnslev:Although we have been present in the Polish market with a sales office since a couple of years, we would like to take the “Automotive Day” event as an opportunity to present us as a company and our portfolio to our customers and those who we hope will become a client one day. LANXESS does not produce parts that go into cars directly but we are a technology driven company that manufactures high-tech products and offer innovative applications that go into those auto parts. Not everyone knows that. The event in Warsaw allows us to show our expertise in the field of providing high-tech-rubber that enable Green Tires or that we provide plastics that enable lightweight construction of cars.

Last but not least the topic of the conference is “Developments and Innovations for Modern Mobility” where we also want to establish a high-class platform for presenting and discussing “Modern Mobility” with our guests. Of course we are going to address future trends like lightweight construction and e-mobility.

LANXESS:Poland does not have an own car brand. Could you tell us something about the market and why it still pays off to stage an “Automotive Day” there?

Björnslev:While it is true that Poland does not manufacture an own brand in the country, it is also true that major international car companies produce in Poland. For example Fiat has started building the new Lancia Ypsilon at Tychy and has targeted an output of 60.000 cars in 2011. Also Opel has a plant in Gliwice were the very successful Astra car model is built.

Volkswagen is present in Poland and increased the production at the plant in Poznan. Here not only cars but also transporters are built. As the income level of the Polish population increases and there is a growing middle class, more and more cars will be consumed – which makes Poland a good platform for the “Automotive Day”.

LANXESS: Talking about future mobility. What role will LANXESS play in the development of that?

Björnslev:I know that LANXESS will play a major role in the shaping of future mobility. Cars have to get lighter and lighter to save fuel and thus make mobility more inexpensive and sustainable. We have solutions for that with our innovative materials that can be used in vehicles. Also there will be a move towards “Green Mobility” and especially “Green Tires” which demand a special kind of rubber that we can produce. Since we invented synthetic rubber over a hundred years ago we have an unmatched expertise in this field and thus can work with the car companies and their suppliers to find innovative solutions for the future. We have already demonstrated this in the past at our “Rubber Days” and the last “Automotive Day” held in Brazil.

LANXESS:Thank you very much for the interview!

Source: http://corporate.lanxess.com/en/events/automotive-day/automotive-day-poland/