Sunny outlook for German roof-maker

Drivers' desire for sun and light will help propel the German roof-maker Webasto toward its global sales target of $5.6 billion by 2020, says Chairman Holger Engelmann, but it will be a big jump. In 2018, Webasto's global sales fell 2.2 percent to $3.8 billion, ending an eight-year growth streak. The supplier has been investing in mobility opportunities — but Engelmann, 54, says there is growth ahead in roof systems. He discussed the outlook with Automotive News Europe Managing Editor Douglas A. Bolduc. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Will Webasto grow faster than the market?

A: In the midterm, we should grow faster than the overall global market, especially in China. This is based on the growing demand for roofs, which has resulted in a high backlog of orders for us.

Last year, Webasto added the Jeep Wrangler softtop, and you were awarded another SUV convertible project. Can you say who the project is with and update us on the crossover cabriolet niche?

We are investing about €40 million ($44.9 million) in our facility in Plymouth, Mich., to produce the new roof for the crossover convertible. We needed additional manufacturing space for this big project. Production will start at the end of 2020. Unfortunately, I cannot provide more details.

What is the outlook for convertibles?

It remains a dwindling but decent market for us. To offset the decline, we have integrated the convertible division into the sunroof division, so we now have one roof systems division.

What's interesting is that we conducted a small survey during the Shanghai auto show this year to ask visitors to our booth whether they might be interested in buying a convertible in the future. Of the 400 people who took the survey, more than 80 percent said they like convertibles and more than 60 percent said they could imagine buying a convertible in the future.

Maybe when the environmental conditions become better in China, we will see a huge recovery for the convertible. For the next five years, however, we will remain lean and make the best out of the market while being ready to move when the market goes back up.

What is your outlook for panorama roofs and sunroofs?

We still see growth of roughly 4 percent, so it is above the growth of car production. This is because demand for panorama roofs in China is outperforming the overall market.