The opening was held in the presence of Daegu Metropolitan Mayor Hong Joon Pyo, Marc Vrecko, President of Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group, Kim Min-kyu, CEO of Valeo Mobility Korea and French Ambassador of Korea, Philippe Bertoux.
Valeo signed in July 2022 an investment agreement worth $56 million with the Daegu Metropolitan Government to mass-produce ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) parts, key devices for vehicles that will be more and more autonomous. The construction of the greenfield Valeo plant in Daegu began in March 2023 and the plan will start operating in early 2025.
Joonpyo Hong, Daegu city, Mayor | Wooseok Choi, Ministry of Industry and Energy, Head director | Jungsung Kee, HKMC, The head of corporate business | Philippe Bertoux, France Embassy, Ambassador | Jaehun Choi, Dalseong County Office, County governor | Sangtae Kim, PHC, CEO | Tae Hyung KIM, Invest KOREA (Kotra), Commissioner | Kunwoo Lee, DGIST, President of university | Kyeongsoo Lee, Yeungnam University, Vice-Chancellor of university | Jaeyong Lee, Yeungnam College, President of university | Marc Vrecko, Valeo President of CDA | MInkyu Kim, Valeo Mobility Korea
The Valeo Daegu plant will start producing parking assistant sensors before becoming a core production facility in Asia for autonomous driving sensors, with the mass-production of key components such as ultrasound sensors, radars, cameras and LiDARs.
The production is destined for local sales as well as export to meet the growing demand of ADAS and security systems.
Marc Vrecko, President, Valeo Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group, said, “Valeo is a leader in the production of ADAS with one car out of three worldwide equipped with Valeo ADAS technology. We are honored to start the production of a whole range of key components for autonomous cars such as ultrasound, radars, cameras and LiDAR sensors in the Daegu plant (Korea) which offers a highly experienced workforce and an excellent automobile industry base.“
Valeo has been present in South Korea since 1999, and has since then established 3 R&D centers and 14 production sites. The Comfort & Driving Assistance Business Group created a South Korea Regional Operation in 2015, after experiencing steady growth since entering Korea in 2008. We have been working closely with the Korean carmakers for 10 years, and Valeo is now recognized in South Korea as a key partner for the development of ADAS.