Laurent Bresson, a Frenchman running a Chinese-owned auto supplier, could easily be a pitchman for Pure Michigan, with his articulate message about why metro Detroit and Michigan are truly the global epicenter of automotive technology, leadership and networking.
Last week, a few days after Saginaw-based Nexteer Automotive announced plans to establish a new global headquarters in the Detroit area, I sat down with Bresson, the company’s president and global chief operating officer.
“I want to write a new chapter for Nexteer,” Bresson said of the 109-year-old manufacturer known as Saginaw Steering Gear for most of its life. It almost wound up on the industrial slag heap when its former parents Delphi and General Motors were mired in bankruptcy a few years ago.
“I want the headquarters closer to the heart of the Motor City, the epicenter of the automotive world,” Bresson added. “We want to be able to attract the top automotive leaders. This is where all the technology is, for autonomous driving — steering is a key for that — and other intelligent transportation systems.”
He hasn’t decided on a specific location yet for the move next year, but Bresson hinted it will be somewhere along the I-75 corridor in Oakland County.
Bresson, a native of Paris who has also worked in Germany, the United Kingdom and China, moved to Michigan with his wife and young son three years ago. He lives in Birmingham.
“I am really amazed,” he said, “at the power of having all these automotive leaders in a 50-mile radius. It’s unbelievable. The network I’ve been able to build in such a short time, I tell you, this is something unique here.
“It would never happen in Europe, where you have OEMs (automotive original equipment makers) in France, in Italy, OEMs all over the place in Germany from the south to the north, so you don’t have such a concentration. This is an amazing power, when you are within this well-connected area with so many leaders.”
Saved from slag heap
Two Chinese companies, AVIC Auto and Beijing E-town, bought the Saginaw parts-maker at auction for $465 million in 2010 and renamed it. Nexteer began offering shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in October 2013, and today its market capitalization, the value of all its stock, is $2.5 billion.
Worldwide employment is about 11,000, including 5,000 in Michigan. The firm hired 90 engineers in Saginaw during 2014 and plans to hire 65 more this year. About 150 people will work at the new headquarters.
Nexteer won’t report year-end sales until next month, but its revenue for the first half of 2014 was $1.4 billion, up 23% from a year earlier. It has a current order backlog of $9 billion and has invested more than $840 million worldwide on to support growing customer demand and new programs.
Bresson was invited last year to join Business Leaders for Michigan, the statewide group of top corporate executives.
“My impression is that he’s absolutely committed to Michigan and is trying very hard to get involved and contribute to the growth of the industry,” said BLM president Doug Rothwell. “His move to establish a headquarters in Oakland County is a win-win because it keeps the engineering operation firmly planted in Saginaw, but expands their presence into metro Detroit.”
Noting that seven global automakers and 60 of the top 100 suppliers have global or North American research and development hubs in southeast Michigan, Bresson said, “It’s an extremely fast-moving pace in the world of safety technology and self-driving cars. We have to make sure we are getting all the information on the technology immediately. And just being here and connected, it’s such a power.”
Glenn Stevens, vice president of MICHauto and strategic development for the Detroit Regional Chamber, said Bresson has boosted Nexteer’s profile in the automotive community. “He’s a true multinational,” Steven said, “and he’s right about the concentration of talent and technology here. When you’re immersed in it, you can optimize.”
Bresson put it this way: “The new Nexteer headquarters is all about global growth and evolution of the brand. And we have a commitment to the state of Michigan; our roots are here.”
