At the start of the year, HELLA CEO Michel Favre addresses all employees in a personal letter. In it, he looks back on a successful year 2022 for HELLA and emphasizes the opportunities for the company under the FORVIA umbrella.​

_{Monday 2023-01-30}

​​Dear colleagues,​

First of all, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a happy, healthy and, above all, peaceful new year!​

2022 was a turbulent year characterized by many crises that overlapped: the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the shortage of components, price increases for energy and raw materials, and the war in Ukraine, to name but a few. They challenged us in our private lives, but also as a company.​

Especially because of this, we can be very proud that we were able to announce a whole series of successes last year. Let me take this chance to highlight three aspects in particular:​

Firstly, despite all the market adversities, we are continuing to perform well economically. We made a strong start to the fiscal year 2022, which began in June. In the second quarter, we accelerated along this route even further and significantly outperformed the market again. You have all greatly contributed to this.​

Secondly, we were able to successfully place numerous groundbreaking innovations onto the market, such as our FlatLight, Front Phygital Shields, high-voltage converters, the Smart Car Access system and our brake-by-wire technology. Above all, we have secured record orders. In the automotive business alone, we acquired orders with a total volume of around 10 billion euros, more than ever before. An outstanding team performance.​

Thirdly, we are leaders in innovation. We know that. But it is a special honor when this is also confirmed outside of the business. We received the prestigious CES 2023 Innovation Award in the category "Vehicle Tech & Advanced Mobility" for the SSL | HD headlamp system and in China we received two Innovation Awards for the development of the Digital FlatLight. Congratulations to all the teams involved.

​These three points are indicative of the stability and future orientation of our business model and they do not happen by chance: they are the result of your innovation, your commitment, your creative collaboration. On behalf of the entire management team: thank you very much!​

Taking this into consideration, it hits us all particularly hard when long-standing companions, experts, passionate personalities leave our company. For many of you, the news announced before christmas that Dr Lea Corzilius and Björn Twiehaus would be terminating their executive contract by mutual agreement will have raised questions. I personally received their decision with great regret, although such a step is not unusual when there are organizational changes like a takeover. However, I can promise you that we will do everything we can to sort out a succession plan as quickly as possible. Our clear goal is to find replacements in the HELLA team.

​For me personally, it is extremely important to emphasize that collaborating under the FORVIA umbrella is a great benefit for both HELLA and Faurecia. Because the uncertainties on the market are not lessening. In order not to falter along the way, we need strong partners. HELLA and Faurecia are these strong partners for each other, because together we form the seventh largest automotive supplier in the world with over 150,000 employees. And I can only repeat to you what I hear time and again in conversations with customers and suppliers, not least at CES in Las Vegas: the collaboration between HELLA and Faurecia makes us stronger, even more powerful. And the successes are already apparent: we are gaining orders because we are supporting each other and enabling new market access. We are improving processes because we are learning from one another. We are gaining innovative strength because new perspectives are opening up for us in our collaboration.​ We set the course for this in 2022. Soon, on 7th February, we as the FORVIA team will celebrate our first birthday. Many activities are planned worldwide – at HELLA and at Faurecia – to mark the occasion. There will be a few surprises: so, let’s celebrate.​

Yours
Michel Favre​​​​​​​​