Company Profile
Ficosa North America
Company Overview
We are a top-tier global provider devoted to the research, development, manufacturing, and marketing of advanced technology vision, safety, connectivity, and efficiency systems for the motor and mobility sectors. Our desire is to contribute to society through a commitment to technological innovation, human values, and energy efficiency.
Our commitment to technology and innovation has made us pioneers in safety, connectivity, and efficiency systems for the motor sector, through research, development, and manufacturing.
Our company was founded in 1949. Our head office is located in Barcelona (Spain) and we have production centers, engineering centers and sales offices in 16 countries in Europe, North America, South America, and Asia. We currently have a team of more than 10,000 employees.
Production centers, engineering centers and sales offices in 16 countries.
Ficosa was founded in 1949.
+10,000 employees
Benchmark in high-technology solutions.
Our company is at a key point in our expansion as a result of our firm commitment to internationalization, operational efficiency, and innovation.
The profound technological transformation we have undergone in recent years, based on the development of electronic and software products with greater added value has been key to our growth. This transformation was accelerated by the acquisition of Sony’s manufacturing and engineering assets in Viladecavalls (Barcelona, Spain), where we have set up a Technology Center of Excellence in electronics and technology that is the driving force for the group’s R&D efforts worldwide.
This has given rise to the new Ficosa – a more innovative, global, and efficient company focused on the creation of high-technology safety, efficiency, and connectivity solutions for the motor and mobility sector.
Our capital and business alliance with Panasonic reaffirms Ficosa’s consolidation in the new-technology market, resulting in a large, specialized, global group that can immediately address our customers’ new needs and lead the future of the motor and mobility industry around the world.
Company History
Our history has been marked by our clear innovative and international vocation. Since José María Pujol and José María Tarragó began this thrilling adventure in a small workshop in Barcelona in 1949, and throughout our more than six decades of history, we have held fast to our desire to connect with the future, which has allowed us to consolidate our position as a global benchmark in the motor industry.
1949 – 1985: The beginning
Our history began in 1949 when the company was set up to manufacture mechanical cables for the spare-parts market. With the revolution in the booming motor industry in Spain from the 1950s to the 1970s, Ficosa committed to technology in the sector and consolidated our position as a local automobile manufacturing supplier. Our internationalization process began when the company set up shop in Oporto (Portugal) in the seventies.
1986 – 1995: Supplier to the top European manufacturers
Spain joining the European Economic Community in 1986 launched our leap into the European market at a time when we were already leaders in each of our product lines in Spain. Our high-quality products led us to supply the top European manufacturers.
1996 – 2000: A global company
In the 1990s, globalization became a challenge for us and we adapted to the new situation by boosting our operational efficiency and technological capacities. This was how we began our growth in North and South America; first in the United States and Mexico (1995), in Brazil and Argentina (1997) and in Asia (1998) through a joint venture with the Tata group.
2001 – 2009: Innovation and expansion
In 2001, we made an important qualitative and quantitative leap, consolidating our presence in Europe and setting up production centers in key countries such as Poland and Turkey. At this time, we also began operating in South Korea, Romania, China, and Russia. Plus, we gave our R&D activity a strong push by setting up a Technology Centre in Mollet del Vallés (Barcelona, Spain) in 2004.
2011: Consolidation in the new-technology market
Our transformation towards products with more electrical components picked up speed when we acquired the Sony plant in Viladecavalls in 2010. We used these facilities to establish our new Technology Center, which is the driving force for our organization’s research and development efforts worldwide and has become a benchmark in the motor industry in Europe.
Our capital and business alliance with Panasonic began on June 30, 2015 and has secured our place in the new-technology market and given us the strength we need to lead the transformation of the motor industry.
Notable Clients
https://www.ficosa.com/partners/clients/
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
Our social contribution is based on our innovative activity and our work to improve the communities where we are present, by creating quality employment and social and solidary actions.
We strive to improve our technology in order to help solve important social issues, such as road safety. In 2014, more than 25,700 people lost their lives on roads in the European Union. In the United States, more than 32,000 people died in traffic accidents that year. Sending an automatic alert and geolocation when an accident has occurred boosts emergency services’ response by 50% in rural areas and 40% in urban areas.
This is why we continually work on innovative solutions and products that contribute to safer mobility, such as e-Call (emergency call) and new advanced driver-assistance systems.
Furthermore, following our commitment to people and human values, we continue to collaborate on various social, sports, cultural, and educational initiatives in the cities and countries where our centres are located.
We actively participate in the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (FEM in Spanish), collaborate with the Gaspar de Portolà Foundation, which focuses on the social and labour integration of people with mental disabilities, and with associations and institutions including the Red Cross, Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC in Spanish), and Hospice of St. Thomas Apostle, among others.
Benefits
Those are only some of the benefits we offer. We also offer tuition reimbursement and other great perks!
Our commitment to our employees is one of the company’s key missions and we are constantly concerned with offering the best possible working conditions. We believe that being a responsible company means tackling a series of challenges: training employees, helping them advance in their careers, giving them a fair salary that motivates them, looking out for their wellbeing at work, and combining operational excellence with personal development.