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Our history has been marked by our clear innovative and international vocation. Since José María Pujol and José María Tarragó began this thrilling adventure in a small workshop in Barcelona in 1949, and throughout our more than six decades of history, we have held fast to our desire to connect with the future, which has allowed us to consolidate our position as a global benchmark in the motor industry. 1949 – 1985: The beginning Our history began in 1949 when the company was set up to manufacture mechanical cables for the spare-parts market. With the revolution in the booming motor industry in Spain from the 1950s to the 1970s, Ficosa committed to technology in the sector and consolidated our position as a local automobile manufacturing supplier. Our internationalisation process began when the company set up shop in Oporto (Portugal) in the seventies. 1986 – 1995: Supplier to the top European manufacturers Spain joining the European Economic Community in 1986 launched our leap into the European market at a time when we were already leaders in each of our product lines in Spain. Our high-quality products led us to supply the top European manufacturers. 1996 – 2000: A global company In the 1990s, globalization became a challenge for us and we adapted to the new situation by boosting our operational efficiency and technological capacities. This was how we began our growth in North and South America; first in the United States and Mexico (1995), in Brazil and Argentina (1997) and in Asia (1998) through a joint venture with the Tata group. 2001 – 2009: Innovation and expansion In 2001, we made an important qualitative and quantitative leap, consolidating our presence in Europe and setting up production centres in key countries such as Poland and Turkey. At this time, we also began operating in South Korea, Romania, China, and Russia. Plus, we gave our R&D activity a strong push by setting up a Technology Centre in Mollet del Vallés (Barcelona, Spain) in 2004. 2011: Consolidation in the new-technology market Our transformation towards products with more electrical components picked up speed when we acquired the Sony plant in Viladecavalls in 2010. We used these facilities to establish our new Technology Centre, which is the driving force for our organization’s research and development efforts worldwide and has become a benchmark in the motor industry in Europe. Our capital and business alliance with Panasonic began on 30June 2015 and has secured our place in the new-technology market and given us the strength we need to lead the transformation of the motor industry.