(02/12/2015) For the fifth consecutive year, Vehicle Access Systems Technology LLC (“VAST”) has ended the year with record sales. The strategic partnership of three automotive suppliers, WITTE Automotive (Velbert, Germany), STRATTEC Security Corporation (Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA) and ADAC Automotive (Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA), generated total sales of $1.5 billion USD in 2014 – up by 15% compared to the previous year! VAST, through its member organizations and operating entities, employs over 8,800 people worldwide – another record.
“VAST’s worldwide presence will continue to grow in importance,” Jim Teets, President and CEO of ADAC Automotive and Chairman of the Board of Directors of VAST, said underlining the successful collaboration. “Today, most of our contracts involve global projects – projects that we were only able to acquire because of our membership in the VAST strategic alliance.” Through its 10 development and 14 manufacturing facilities in North and South America, Europe and Asia, VAST can serve the global needs of all of the worlds’ major automobile manufacturers. “Last year, VAST was able to launch mass production of projects for FORD, VW and GM in North America, Europe and China,” stated Phillipe Dequecker, VAST’s President. ”VAST’s motto of ‘One Face to the Customer’” Dequecker continues, “reflects the optimization of our organizational structure, a structure that directly benefits our customers by providing seamless interaction with our global service teams.
”By systematically utilizing the synergies that its global alliance has created, VAST is developing new intercompany functional teams that will give it a decisive advantage over its competitors. “Thanks to VAST we are able to meet the challenging demands placed on suppliers by OEM manufacturers. Together, we are ideally positioned to take advantage of opportunities that develop in the global automotive market,” stated VAST Chairman Jim Teets, sharing his optimistic view of the future.