The seemingly inconspicuous seating system is merely inferior to engine in the automotive cost structure. The average price of common car seats is around US$850-1,050, that of medium-grade ones US$1,400-1,600 or so, and that of top-grade ones over US$2,000. The seating system turns out to be more expensive than gear box, chassis, and auto body to most of the cars.

The automotive seating system mainly consists of cushion frame, back frame, slide channel, covering, pad assy, recliner assy, and motor. The frames and the slide channel are usually obtained via the laser welding of high strength steels and they ask for excellent metal processing technology. Pad assy requires superb chemical preparation technology, electric control and order recall need electronic technology, and covering demands textile technology; consequently, there are few manufacturers of automotive seating assembly and the threshold is very high.

The global automotive seating manufacturers fall into American, Japanese, and European factions. The America-based manufacturers are mainly composed of JC and Lear. As the worlds largest manufacturer of automotive seating system, JC enjoys absolute superiority in pad assy technology and global presence. It possesses rich cash flow and improves its industry chain through purchasing small producers. JC accomplished three acquisitions from November 2010 to January 2011. In Nov., 2010, JC purchased Michel Thierry, the supplier of automotive seat textile fabrics for JC; in December 2010, JC acquired the component business of Keiper, the inventor of seat recliner assy, and the seating business of Recaro famous for top-grade automotive seating system; and in January 2011, JC bought the supplier of metal frames for automotive seating system named CRH whose major customers are manufacturers of luxury vehicles.

Lear started its business with seating fabrics, its industry chain is highly integrated, and the major clients cover GM, Ford, and Audi, who contribute more than 50% to its revenue.

The Japanese manufacturers include Toyota Boshoku, TS, and TACHI-S; wherein, the former two thrive from seating fabrics, while the latter grows from seating spring. Toyota Boshoku mostly supplies for Toyota; 74% automotive seating systems of Honda are provided by TS; and the major clients of TACHI-S are Nissan and Honda.

The European manufacturers consist of French Faurecia and German Brose. Engaged in medium & high-grade cars, Faurecia acquired Seat Comfort Segment of German Hoerbiger in December 2010. It mainly serves Audi A8 & A7, BMW 7 series, Bentley 831/621, and Benz S series, all are luxury cars priced over RMB 1 million.

Brose, the largest manufacturer of electric seat adjustor and the second largest manufacturer of door-lock system in Europe, takes the lead worldwide in the fields of electric window winder, auto door system, ABS motor and air-conditioner fan assembly, but it deals with small quantities of seat assembly.

In addition, the automotive seating manufacturers cover South Korean DYMOS and HANIL E-HWA; wherein, the former also provides gear boxes for South Korean Tanktech, and the latter gives priority to trim.

All the automobile manufacturers in China except BYD adopt the seating systems of joint ventures, and BYD also needs to purchase key components. The automotive joint ventures in China are mostly controlled by the foreign parties, and may eventually develop into sole proprietorships. The joint ventures of foreign-funded automotive enterprises in China are mainly the branch companies with the highest profit margin. Take Toyota Boshoku as an example: its operating margin in Japan is 1.2%, while that in China is as high as 13.6%. China has contributed over 80% to the profit of Toyota Boshoku.

1. Introduction to Automotive Seating System
1.1 Structure
1.2 Framework
1.3 Motor
1.4 Fabric

2. Global and China Automobile Market and Industry
2.1 Global Automobile Market
2.2 Global Automobile Industry
2.3 Chinese Automobile Market, 2010
2.3.1 Overview
2.3.2 Market Pattern
2.4 Chinese Automobile Market, 2011
2.4.1 Overview
2.4.2 Passenger Car
2.4.3 SUV
2.4.4 MPV
2.4.5 Cross Passenger Car
2.4.6 Commercial Vehicle
2.5 China Automobile Industry

3. Global and China Automotive Seating System Industry
3.1 Global Scale
3.2 Global Ranking
3.3 Relationship between Automotive Seating System Manufacturers and Automobile Manufacturers in the World
3.4 Shares of Automotive Seating System Suppliers of Major Automobile Manufacturers
3.5 China Automotive Seating System Industry
3.6 Relationship between Automotive Seating System Manufacturers and Automobile Manufacturers in China

4. Automotive Seating System Manufacturers
4.1 Toyota Boshoku
4.1.1 Changchun Faway Toyota Boshoku Auto Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.2 Tianjin Intex Auto Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.3 Tianjin Kahou Automotive Decoration Co., Ltd
4.1.4 Tianjin Feng'ai Automotive Seat Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.5 Tianjin Toyota Boshoku Automotive Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.6 Chengdu Toyota Boshoku Automotive Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.7 Shanghai Toyota Boshoku Automotive Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.8 Kunshan Toyota Boshoku Automotive Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.9 Ningbo Araco Co., Ltd
4.1.10 Toyota Boshoku Ningbo Co., Ltd
4.1.11 Guangzhou Intex Auto Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.12 Feng'ai (Guangzhou) Auto Seat Parts Co., Ltd
4.1.13 Toyota Boshoku Foshan Co., Ltd
4.2 TS
4.2.1 Guangzhou TS Automotive Interior Systems Co., Ltd
4.2.2 Wuhan TS-GSK Auto Parts Co., Ltd
4.3 Tachi-S
4.3.1 Tacle Guangzhou Automotive Seat Co., Ltd
4.4 Faurecia
4.4.1 Changchun Faurecia Xuyang Automotive Seat Co., Ltd
4.4.2 Faurecia-GSK (Wuhan) Automotive Seating Co., Ltd
4.5 Lear
4.5.1 Lear Dongfeng Automotive Seating Co., Ltd
4.5.2 Jiangxi Jiangling Lear Interior Systems Co., Ltd
4.5.3 Shenyang Lear Automotive Seating and Interior Systems Co., Ltd
4.5.4 Chongqing Lear Chang'an Automotive Interior Decoration Co., Ltd
4.5.5 Lear Automotive Systems (Wuhu) Co., Ltd
4.5.6 Lear Automotive Fabric (Ruian) Co., Ltd
4.5.7 Nanjing Lear Xindi Automotive Interiors Systems Co., Ltd
4.5.8 Tacle Guangzhou Automotive Seat Co., Ltd
4.5.9 Lear Corporation Changchun Automotive Interior System Co., Ltd
4.5.10 Beijing Lear Dymos Automotive Systems Co., Ltd
4.5.11 Shanghai Lear Stec Automotive Parts Co., Ltd
4.6 Johnson Control
4.6.1 Keiper
4.6.2 Shanghai Yanfeng Johnson Controls Seating Co., Ltd (YFJC)
4.6.3 Nanjing YFJC
4.6.4 Wuhu Johnson Controls Yunhe Automotive Seating Co., Ltd
4.6.5 Chongqing YFJC
4.6.6 Guangzhou Dongfeng Johnson Controls Automotive Seating Co., Ltd
4.6.7 Changchun Faway-Johnson Controls Automotive Systems Co., Ltd
4.7 Visteon
4.7.1 YFV
4.8 Magna
4.9 Brose
4.10 DYMOS
4.11 Sitech
4.12 Changchun Xuyang
4.13 Wuhan New Yunhe
4.14 Hubei Aviation Precision Machinery Technology Co., Ltd
4.15 GSK Industrial

List of Tables

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List of Figures

Energy Consumption and Structure of China, 2001-2010
Output, Consumption and Import Dependence of Crude Oil in China, 2001-Jun.2011
Crude Oil Import Dependence of China, 2020E
Price Comparison among Crude Oil, Natural Gas and Coal with Equivalent Heat Value, 2004-2011
Capacity Utilization of Traditional Coal Chemicals in China, 2010
Development Plans of New Coal Chemicals in China by Region
Technical Parameters of Coal Gasification: China vs. Foreign Countries
Output of Ethylene in China, 2001-2011H1
Apparent Consumption of Ethylene in China, 2008-2011H1
Factory Price of Ethylene in China, 2009-2011
Factory Price of Propylene in China, 2009-2011
Propylene Consumption Structure in China by Product, 2010
Output and Consumption of Polypropylene in China, 2000-2010
Comparison between Chinese and Foreign Coal-to-olefin Technologies
Raw Material Prices of Coal-to-Olefin and Oil-to-Olefin in China, 2003-2011
Waste Discharge Comparison between Coal-to-Olefin (with Annual Output of 600,000 tons) and Oil-to-Olefin (with Annual Output of 1.2 million tons)
Large-scale Projects of Coal-to-Olefin in China
Coal-to-Olefin Projects under Construction/Planning in China, 2010-Aug.2011
Design Capacity of Shenhua Baotou Coal-to-Olefin Project
Design Capacity of Shenhua Shenning Coal-to-Olefin Project
Design Capacity of Shenhua-Dow Chemical Yulin Coal-to-Olefin Project
Design Capacity of Shenhua Shaanxi Methanol Downstream Processing Project
Operating Revenue and Total Profit of Datang Power Generation, 2006-2010
Operating Revenue Structure of Datang Power Generation by Product, 2010
Fund Use Plans of Datang Power Generation by Project, 2011
Design Capacity of Datang Duolun Coal Chemical Project
Design Capacity of Anhui Huainan Chemical Group Coal-to-Olefin Project
Design Capacity of PCEC Coal-to-Olefin Project
Ranking of Natural Gas Reserves Worldwide, 2009
Five Main Natural Gas Production Areas in China
Production and Consumption of Natural Gas in China, 2001-2011H1
Demand, Output, Import Volume and Supply Gap of Natural Gas in China, 2020E
Primary Energy Structure: China vs. Other Countries, 2010
Comparison of Coal Chemicals by Energy Efficiency
Comparison of Coal Chemicals by Water Consumption
Comparison of Coal Chemicals by CO2 Emission
Coal-to-Gas Projects under Construction/Planning in China as of Aug.2011
Design Capacity of Shenhua Ordos Coal-to-Natural Gas Project
Ownership Structure of Datang International Keshiketeng Coal-to-Natural Gas Co., Ltd.
Design Capacity of Xinwen Mining Group Coal-to-Natural Gas Project
Output of Glycol in China, 2000-2009
Import Volume and Import Dependence of Glycol in China, 2000-2010
Consumption Structure of Glycol in China, 2009
Consumption of Glycol in China, 2000-2009
Coal-to-glycol Projects in China as of Aug.2011
Operating Revenue and Total Profit of Danhua Chemical Technology, 2006-2011H1
Operating Revenue of China Huadian Corporation, 2002-2009
Operating Revenue of Yanchang Petroleum, 2005-2010
Petrochemical Reserves-Production Ratio of China, 2010
Change in Reserves-Production Ratio of Petroleum in China, 2000-2010
Comparison between Oil Refinery Oil Making and Coal-to-oil by Unit Product Investment
Crude Oil Price of Coal-to-oil Project Responding to the Coal Price Fluctuation
Coal-to-oil Projects in China as of Aug.2011
Consumption of Coal, Water and Electric Power Per Ton of Coal-to-oil of Inner Mongolia Yitai Group
Coal-to-oil Project (Phase I) of Inner Mongolia Yitai Group
Coal-to-oil Demonstration Project of Yankuang Group