A thriving automotive electronics industry on the West Coast, as well as overwhelming customer demands, were cited as main reasons that FEV North America Inc. (FEV) has established an office in Sunnyvale, California. FEV has long supported customers in California in the development of vehicles and electronic systems, and has become an industry development and testing leader in the electronics and connected vehicle space. Increasing requests for this expertise from its customers has led FEV to establish an office in one of the nation’s hubs for automotive electronics and connected vehicle technology. The office will celebrate its grand opening with an invitation-only customer event on Sept. 8. Patrick Hupperich, president and CEO of FEV North America Inc., made the announcement.
“FEV has expanded its expertise well beyond the powertrain design and development competencies that were the original foundation of our company’s growth,” said Hupperich. “Our capabilities in the connected vehicle and automotive electronics market are fully integrated into our core business, allowing us to provide a very unique range of support to our West Coast customers. Our global objective has always been to provide unique and valuable service offerings as close as possible to our customers. The founding of our California office is an extension of this philosophy. In a way, we’ve come back to the future. FEV was founded in California in 1985 and, now, the uniqueness of this market has brought us back to our origins. We are responding to customer demand from our existing customers in California, but we also anticipate significant new business growth in this promising market.”
In addition to serving the connected vehicle community, the office will support a variety of industries that are well-established in California, such as oil and gas, as well as the transportation and utility industries. FEV’s presence in the area also benefits the company’s traditional customers in the West Coast region.
The services provided by the California office, which will be part of FEV North America Inc., will be flexible and continually adapt to changing customer needs, said Hupperich. “Our vision is to take our unique mobility, electrification and connected vehicle capabilities to the doorsteps of our customers.”
“Our Silicon Valley office will allow us to gain access to talented resources and be in the middle of new and emerging technology introductions in Silicon Valley,” said Stephan Tarnutzer, vice president of electronics for FEV North America Inc. “It also allows us to be close to our numerous West Coast-based customers who we support with design and development services for advanced electronic components and systems. The new office at the center of one of the world’s most advanced technology innovation incubators will provide our customers regular and immediate access to FEV’s technical experts in the areas of connected vehicle, autonomous driving, and electrification.”
Longtime FEV employee John Zelasko will manage the California office. Zelasko will report to Joachim Wolschendorf, executive vice president and CSO of FEV North America Inc. Additional staff will come from FEV’s North American headquarters in Auburn Hills combined, as necessary, with locally-sourced staffing.
