Regional sales rose by a higher percentage rate than global sales, which grew by 6.3%to a total of US 9.3 billion. A focus on innovation, investments in research and development, and the company's buy and build strategy have resulted in record sales for the fifth year in a row, the company believes.

Products and applications

Companies of the Freudenberg Group supply products and services to automotive, aerospace, medical, oil and gas and construction industries.

Also, Freudenberg is a leader in the production of household and cleaning supplies. Based in Germany, the company is known in almost 60 countries for industrial and consumer products. In addition, its IT business group provides software solutions and technology services to small and medium-size enterprises. Ten of 11 Freudenberg business groups are active in North America.

Second largest market

“With 23% of sales generated in North America, our region is the second largest market for Freudenberg after Europe. It is especially noteworthy that we have seen increased sales in all areas of our business, reflecting the broad recovery of the North American economy,” said Bob Evans, Freudenberg North America President and regional representative.

If we need to single out the business groups which have seen the highest year over year increase, we should mention Freudenberg Chemical Specialities, Freudenberg Performance Materials, Freudenberg Sealing Technologies, Freudenberg IT and Helix Medical.”

“Automotive remains the largest market for Freudenberg both in North America and worldwide,” he added.

Investment and acquisitions

In 2014, the company made a combined investment in the US, Canada and Mexico of about US 105 million, consistent with annual investments in previous years. Included in this investment was the expansion of production capacity, new facilities or upgrades to existing sites as well as mergers and acquisitions. “We will continue investments at this level in 2015,” said Mr Evans. 

Last year Freudenberg also executed two acquisitions in North America: Tobul Accumulators was added to the Freudenberg Sealing Technologies Group and MeadWestvaco’s industrial activated carbon corrosion protection business became a part of the Freudenberg Filtration Technologies Business Group.

Collectively, Freudenberg operates 87 locations within the North American region and employs more than 8,300 people, including approximately 1,000 associates in Canada and Mexico.

www.freudenberg.com