Automotive - Markets
Original Equipment (OE)
The vast majority of Pilkington Automotive's OE production is focused on the volume light vehicle industry, serving all of the world’s major VMs, including Toyota, GM, Ford, VW, Renault/Nissan, Chrysler, Mercedes, Fiat, Honda, PSA, BMW, Mitsubishi, Subaru and Suzuki, together with their respective subsidiary brands. Of all such vehicles built in the world last year, more than one in three contained glazing manufactured by Pilkington Automotive businesses.
Additionally, Pilkington Automotive also globally coordinates its approach to the specialist/niche vehicle manufacturers.
Specialised Transport
Pilkington Automotive provides high quality glazing solutions and value-added products to the Original Equipment manufacturers of specialised transport and utility vehicles. These include buses and coaches, trucks, trams and metro systems, locomotives, train carriages, special cars and vans, recreational vehicles, tractors and combine harvesters, construction vehicles as well as ships and pleasure craft (Pilkington Marine). Pilkington Automotive’s customers are recognised as world-leading manufacturers, with many operating on a global basis.
Aftermarket (AGR)
In servicing the aftermarket, Pilkington Automotive is able both to leverage its global OE supply programmes and to utilise its flexible, short-run manufacturing expertise to produce glazings for models that are no longer current, or for which it is not the OE supplier. Operations in Finland, Poland, China, South America and Mexico play a key role in this respect. In the few cases where in-house manufacture is not attractive to Pilkington Automotive, it supplements its own production where necessary with bought-in glazings to complete key product ranges.
Pilkington Automotive aftermarket products can reach the end user by one of two main routes; the VMs’ own dealer networks or independent AGR distribution chains, including Pilkington Automotive's own, supplying the retail fitter.
Pilkington Automotive itself has well developed aftermarket distribution and wholesale networks throughout Europe and North America with estimated market shares around 20 per cent. It is also well established in serving the aftermarkets in Japan, South America and South East Asia.