Tristone opens Brazil subsidiary, to build production plant

Frankfurt, Germany – Hose manufacturer Tristone Flowtech Group has set up a new sales and engineering company in Sao Paulo, Brazil in a bid to enter the Brazilian automotive market.

The new legal entity Tristone Flowtech Brasil Autopecas Ltda was launched in August, said Tristone in a 19 Sept statement.

“[The subsidiary] in Brazil will be a further step for Tristone Group to enter the local Brazilian automotive passenger car market,” said Günter Frölich, CEO & President of the Group.

The company has already received its first business nominations from a global OEM customer with production base in Brazil, according to Ignacio Salazar, senior vice president sales & marketing of the group.

Within the coming years, Salazar went on to say, the company is aiming to establish a local production plant with roughly 5,000 square metre of manufacturing and logistic space. The proposed unit will employ 150 and manufacture engine and battery cooling as well as aircharge fluid products locally.

The German group broke ground on a €20.4 million production plant in Mooresville, North Carolina in May, expecting to complete building construction at the plant by November and start production by May 2019.

With sales of about €289 million in 2017, the company expects to grow by another $60 million in revenues after the Mooresville production facility begins operating.

A spin-off of the former Fluid Automotive business unit of Trelleborg AB in July 2010, Tristone operated as a stand-alone company until February 2017 when it was acquired by the Zhongding Group. It continues to operate under the Tristone name and corporate structure. The firm employs about 3,300 globally.