Webasto acquires
glass specialist Carlex

Webasto moves into production of a key material for innovative car roof systems: Glass. By expanding its competencies, the company is able to tap new market potential for its core business.

Stockdorf – August 18, 2022 – Webasto, global systems partner to the mobility sector, has acquired Carlex Glass Luxembourg SA in Grevenmacher (Luxembourg). The site manufactures glass elements for passenger cars, counts many international carmakers among its customers and was previously part of Carlex Glass America LLC, based in Nashville, Tennessee (USA). “Investing in our own glass manufacturing facility is an important strategic step for us in strengthening the competitiveness of our top-selling business unit – and consequently of the entire Webasto Group,” emphasizes Dr. Holger Engelmann, Chairman of the Management Board of Webasto SE.

Webasto has led the market in the sunroof, panoramic and convertible roof segment for many years. With forward-looking technologies and materials, the company is constantly developing its range in this product group. “Electromobility and autonomous driving are having a major impact on the development of car roofs. For instance, demand for increasingly ‘intelligent’ roofs in openable and non-openable roof systems is growing. Glass is of special significance here. The fact that we can now offer automakers worldwide well thought-out and innovative ideas for future mobility solutions – hand-in-hand with our new colleagues in Luxembourg – makes us happy and proud,” explains Engelmann.

Freddy Geeraerds, Webasto Management Board member with global responsibility for the Group’s roof business, adds: “Expanding our expertise in glass production opens up multiple new possibilities for us – in the areas of switchable glazing, ambient lighting and solar roofs, for example. Demand for these functionalities no longer only exists for the premium segment, but increasingly for small- and medium-class mass-produced vehicles, too. Moreover, ‘smart glass’ is also playing an increasingly important role in self-driving cars, which we developed the Roof Sensor Module for, for example in terms of privacy, safety and entertainment. So, Webasto already is offering roof systems for an electric future.”

Since August 9, 2022, the former Carlex plant in Grevenmacher and its approximately 500 employees have been part of the Webasto Group. In future, the glass experts will collaborate closely with their colleagues in roof system development and validation at the company headquarters in Stockdorf near Munich. The new location operates under the name Webasto Luxembourg S.A.