▲Valeo Daegu factory completion ceremony (Photo source: Valeo)

“It will be reborn as a key production facility for autonomous driving sensors in the Asian region”
Mass production of core components such as LiDAR… Full-scale operation expected in early 2025

The autonomous vehicle parts production plant in Daegu, in which French company Valeo invested 56 million dollars, has been completed.

Valeo signed a $56 million investment contract with Daegu City in July 2022 and plans to mass-produce ADAS components, a key device for increasingly autonomous vehicles.

Valeo said, “Valeo Daegu Plant will start producing parking assistance sensors and will mass-produce core components such as ultrasonic sensors, radars, cameras, and LiDAR, becoming a key production facility for autonomous driving sensors in the Asian region.” The Daegu Greenfield Valeo Plant is scheduled to begin full-scale operation in early 2025.

It will also be produced for domestic sales as well as export to meet the demand for ADAS and security systems.

Through this investment, Valeo is expected to establish a domestic production base for core components for future vehicles, strengthen the supply chain for the transition to future vehicles, and contribute to the revitalization of the local economy and job creation by creating 110 new jobs and achieving KRW 200 billion in annual sales in the future vehicle sector.

France's Valeo is a global automotive parts leader (total sales of 32 trillion won in 2023) and made its first joint investment with a domestic company in 1988. Since then, the company has been consistently investing in Korea for over 35 years (a total of 485 million USD) and currently operates a total of 11 domestic business sites, including joint ventures.

Since deciding on this investment (totaling $56 million) in August 2022, Valeo has been building a production plant for core future vehicle components, such as autonomous driving sensors and vehicle image recognition cameras, in the Daegu National Industrial Complex.

The government has been actively promoting measures such as expanding investment tax credits, strengthening incentives for cutting-edge industries, and reforming regulations to create the best investment environment for domestic and foreign companies. As part of this, the budget for cash support for foreign investment has been significantly increased (KRW 50 billion in 2023 → KRW 200 billion in 2024) and the system has been improved to allow cash support for cutting-edge industry conversion investments such as conversion to future cars.

“Valeo is a leader in ADAS production, with one in three cars worldwide equipped with Valeo ADAS technology,” said Marc Vrecko, President of Valeo’s Comfort and Driving Assistance Systems Business Group. “We are honored to start producing all key components for autonomous vehicles, including ultrasonic, radar, camera and LiDAR sensors, at our Daegu plant.”

In his congratulatory speech that day, Choi Woo-suk, Director General of the Trade and Investment Office, said, “The government will continue to actively pursue policies to promote foreign investment for a global innovation hub and provide maximum support so that cutting-edge companies, including Valeo, can expand their investments.”