Valeo Shenzhen: Mobility innovation and smart manufacturing in China

Robot trolleys glide across the factory floor, restocking materials for the electronic components rolling off automated lines. Real-time dashboards track production output, flag system anomalies, and monitor energy consumption—creating a dynamic, data-driven production environment. It’s a vision of a futuristic factory, and it already exists today as Valeo’s plant in Shenzhen, China.

In 2025, the World Economic Forum recognized Valeo Shenzhen as a model in innovation and gave it the distinguished designation of “Global Lighthouse Factory” for its intelligent manufacturing and digital transformation.

“As a global leader in mobility technology, Valeo is deeply committed to advancing smart manufacturing and digital transformation,” said Zhou Song, President of Valeo China. “By integrating automation, industrial IoT, AI, and other breakthrough technologies of Industry 4.0, we are continuously enhancing lean manufacturing, driving sustainable development, and accelerating intelligent innovation. Our Shenzhen plant stands as a benchmark of excellence and a model for digital evolution across the Valeo Group.”

In total, the site has implemented 42 projects to create a transparent, efficient and AI-enabled intelligent factory. These projects include AI solutions and 14 advanced algorithms, such as Generative AI troubleshooting and a fully automated “lights off” workshop. In the “lights off” workshop, production lines operate autonomously in a space where, as the name suggests, there are no lights, because no operators are required. The lights only come on when a technician needs to intervene to resolve any anomaly that might arise.

The application of these innovative projects has dramatically reduced the defective rate of smart front cameras, shortened lead time by 34.5%, increased productivity by 60.2%, and reduced unit energy consumption by 27.1%, enabling overall superior production with high quality, high efficiency, and lower cost. The site has also been able to reduce its CO₂ emissions by 41% in five years.

It was not that long ago, however, that Valeo Shenzhen was just a modest outpost for the company, but there were always big plans for the site to evolve into a powerhouse as the Chinese automotive market grew at a rapid pace.

Valeo’s Shenzhen plant was built in 2005, and after nearly two decades of rapid development, it has now become one of the company’s largest production sites and electronic R&D centers in China.

Fang Huang, the site general manager, says that when he started at Valeo Shenzhen in 2007, there were just 50 employees, importing ultrasonic sensors manufactured at Valeo Wemding in Germany for the Chinese market.

Today, the site has 3,200 employees and an impressive production output spanning product lines for ADAS systems, vehicle electrification, and lighting systems. It’s one of the few sites that serves all three Valeo divisions, Brain, Power, and Light, producing components including domain controllers, cameras, radars, rain light sensors, high-voltage onboard chargers, and electronic components for lighting.

“It’s unbelievable how fast we have grown,” Huang says. “At the beginning it was all manual, and now our lines are nearly 100% automated.”

The site is not only a symbol of the group’s state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, it’s also a strong example of the transformation from “Made in China” to “Invent in China.” The innovative Phone-as-a-Key technology was created by the Valeo Shenzhen team, as well as the Valeo Smart Safety 360, a cost-effective L2 system.

“The competition in China is intense,” Huang says, “but that drives us to be more creative, more efficient, and more focused on delivering safety and quality.”

As the automotive industry evolves, Valeo Shenzhen is at the forefront—combining artificial intelligence, automation, and sustainability to build the future of mobility and manufacturing.