COINDU | Sustainability Report - 2024

INTRODUCTION and history COINDU was founded by António Lourenço, Armindo Gomes and Günter Stichter Senior in Joane in 1988. Mr. Lourenço was responsible for operations, Mr. Gomes for sales and the Stichter family contributed the capital, their experience and networking in the automotive industry. COINDU started out with the pro- duction of small leather parts, and from 1992 started the series pro- duction of seat covers. Back then COINDU operated mainly as a second-tier supplier or “outsourc- ing” provider to tier one, supplying leather for OEMs like Volvo, Ford, Mercedes, VW and Chrysler. While most operations were conducted in Joane, all commercial operations were handled by the other company of the Stichter Family, Sevex in Sevelen, Switzerland. The following years showed further growth, with the company gaining Faurecia and Johnson Control as new customers. This prompted the decision to go outside Portugal and to open a new plant in Curtici near Arad, Romania in 2005. In 1999, Günter Stichter passed away and his son Günter Stichter Junior followed his father’s footsteps and represented all the members OUR HISTORY AN EXCITING DEVELOPMENT 12