DELPHI 2015 Annual Report Download - page 55

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• Continuing our focus on diversifying our geographic, product and customer mix, resulting in 37% of our 2015 net
sales generated in the North American market, 25% generated from the Asia Pacific region, which we have identified
as a key market likely to experience long term growth, and 14% generated from our largest customer;
• Strategically positioning the Company's product portfolio in high-growth spaces to meet consumer preferences for
products that address the industry mega-trends of Safe, Green and Connected, including $1.5 billion invested in
research & development in 2015, which includes approximately $300 million of co-investment by customers and
government agencies, and through a series of value enhancing portfolio modifications, which included:
• Acquiring HellermannTyton Group PLC ("HellermannTyton"), a leading global manufacturer of high-
performance and innovative cable management solutions, which expanded our product offerings within the
connected vehicle solutions market and further strengthened our leading position in the electrical
architecture market, while also providing a platform to grow HellermannTyton’s adjacent industrial end
markets, including aerospace, defense, alternative energy and mass transit;
• Enhancing our leading active safety and automated driving capabilities through the acquisition of
Ottomatika, Inc. and strategic investment in Quanergy Systems, Inc.;
• Further increasing our software and services capabilities through the acquisition of Control-Tec LLC and
strategic investment in Tula Technology, Inc.; and
• Completing the divestitures of our wholly owned Thermal Systems business for $660 million and our
KDAC joint venture interest for $70 million
• Executing $1.2 billion of share repurchases;
• Maximizing our operational flexibility and profitability at all points in the normal automotive business cycle, by
having approximately 95% of our hourly workforce based in low cost countries and approximately 23% of our hourly
workforce composed of temporary employees; and
• Leveraging our investment grade credit metrics to further refine our capital structure and increase our financial
flexibility by successfully issuing €700 million of 1.50% Euro-denominated senior unsecured notes, utilizing the
proceeds primarily to redeem our 6.125% Senior Notes, as well as successfully issuing $650 million of 3.15% senior
unsecured notes and $650 million of 4.25% senior unsecured notes to finance a portion of the acquisition of
HellermannTyton.
Our strategy is to build on these accomplishments and continue to develop and manufacture innovative market-relevant
products for a diverse base of customers around the globe and leverage our lean and flexible cost structure to achieve strong
and disciplined earnings growth and returns on invested capital. Through our culture of innovation and world class engineering
capabilities we intend to employ our rigorous, forward-looking product development process to deliver new technologies that
provide solutions to OEMs. We are committed to creating value for our shareholders. We expanded our repurchases of ordinary
shares in 2015 to $1.2 billion. In 2015, we also continued to return cash to our shareholders, paying cash dividends totaling
$286 million. Our key strategic priorities include:
Targeting the right business with the right customers. We intend to be strategic in our pursuit of new business and
customers in order to achieve disciplined, above-market growth. We conduct in-depth analysis of market share and product
trends by region in order to prioritize research, development and engineering spend for the customers that we believe will be
successful. Collaboration with customers in our 14 major technical centers around the world helps us develop innovative
product solutions designed to meet their needs. As more OEMs design vehicles for global platforms, where the same vehicle
architecture is shared among different regions, we are well suited to provide global design and engineering support while
manufacturing these products for a specific regional market.
Leveraging our engineering and technological capabilities. We seek to leverage our strong product portfolio tied to the
industry’s key mega-trends with our global footprint to increase our revenues, as well as committing to substantial annual
investment in research and development to maintain and enhance our leadership in each of our product lines.
Capitalizing on our scale, global footprint and established position in emerging markets. We intend to generate sustained
growth by capitalizing on the breadth and scale of our operating capabilities. Our global footprint provides us important
proximity to our customers’ manufacturing facilities and allows us to serve them in every region in which they operate. We
anticipate that we will continue to build upon our extensive geographic reach to capitalize on growing automotive markets,
particularly in China. In addition, our presence in low cost countries positions us to realize incremental margin improvements
as the global balance of automotive production shifts towards emerging markets.
Leveraging our lean and flexible cost structure to deliver profitability and cash flow. We recognize the importance of
maintaining a lean and flexible cost structure in order to deliver stable earnings and cash flow in a cyclical industry. Our focus
is on maximizing and optimizing manufacturing output to meet increasing production requirements with minimal additions to
our fixed-cost base. Additionally, we are continuing to use a meaningful amount of temporary workers to ensure we have the