The Italian multinational, a world leader in filtration solutions, thermal management, and green hydrogen technologies, inaugurates its second production plant in the Asian country, the 22nd globally.?

This expansion strengthens UFI Filters’ relationship with the strategic South Korean market and consolidates the company’s vision, built on localization and customer dedication, to ensure cutting-edge solutions tailored to local needs.?

The Italian company UFI Filters, a global leader in filtration solutions, thermal management, and green hydrogen technologies, takes another step forward in its international growth strategy with the opening of a new production plant in Gimpo, South Korea. This is the second facility in the country, where the company has been active since 2005, and the 22nd worldwide.?

The inauguration of the new production site marks another milestone in the expansion journey of UFI Filters, a company founded in 1971 and led by Chairman Giorgio Girondi. The company aims to strengthen its relationships with the strategic South Korean market while enhancing its commitment to delivering advanced, customized solutions that meet local needs. Over the years, UFI Filters has been one of the first Italian companies to recognize growth opportunities in Asia, becoming a key player with over 4,400 employees, more than 250 specialized technicians in its three Innovation & Research Centers, and over 320 international patents.?

A cutting-edge site dedicated to hydraulic filtration?

The new facility is entirely dedicated to hydraulic filtration, specializing in the design, production, and commercialization of complete filters, filter elements, air breathers, and accessories designed to ensure maximum efficiency and reliability. This product line, developed by UFI Filters Hydraulics, the group’s division specializing in hydraulic filtration, guarantees optimal protection for the hydraulic systems of excavators and construction machinery. Additionally, it includes tailor-made solutions designed to meet the specific requirements of South Korean OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers).?

Growth driven by innovation and sustainability: UFI Filters’ philosophy?

With a strong presence across 21 countries, including Europe, Asia, and the Americas, UFI Filters continues its global expansion strategy by focusing on three key pillars: technological innovation, production localization and customer dedication. In a constantly evolving global context, UFI Filters has anticipated market dynamics, responding to local needs beyond just products, embracing a business model based on flexibility and customization.?

The opening of the new South Korean plant aligns with this forward-thinking approach, ensuring tailor-made solutions and direct support for clients. The facility is strategically located near major industry players, including Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE), a long-standing partner of UFI Filters. The Gimpo plant not only enhances the company’s supply chain and logistics efficiency but also ensures an even faster and more effective service for South Korean customers.?

“Opening a new plant is not just about growth, but about trust—trust in a market, in people, and in the future. Our presence in South Korea proves that there are no limits for those who strive for excellence,” commented Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of UFI Filters. “Over the years, we have built 22 production sites worldwide, driven by organic internal growth and investment in our vision and expertise. Each new plant is a promise of innovation, customer proximity, and the creation of long-term value, the result of a commitment founded on trust-based relationships and a sustainable development strategy,” he concluded.?

At a historical moment marked by global tensions and divisions, the UFI Group, a leader in filtration, thermal management and hydrogen business technologies, chooses to launch a message of peace and cooperation between nations, transforming its well-established Christmas video tradition into an occasion for universal reflection.

In the music video, filmed in Shanghai’s atmospheric Poly Theatre, UFI Filters Chairman Giorgio Girondi, as advisor to the Italian delegation in the European Parliament, expresses much more than a wish through song: an invitation to stop, reflect and rediscover what unites us as people, as human beings.

A universal message of peace through music

The song, sung by UFI Chairman Giorgio Girondi, is more than just a Christmas initiative, it is a universal message, able to speak to everyone, regardless of borders or differences, and to rediscover what unites all of humanity. In a global context of uncertainty, this message resonates loud and clear: only through dialogue and cooperation can we build a stable and peaceful future.

UFI: a bridge between cultures and countries

Present in 22 countries around the world, the UFI group is a concrete example of how dialogue can overcome any barrier. China, with its ancient history of civilisation and progress has always been characterised by building relationships rather than invading foreign territories. This song is born out of this common vision: a message of peace, unity and hope that starts from UFI to reach the whole world.

Music as a universal language

The choice of a song is not random: music is the most powerful medium for conveying emotions and uniting people, regardless of language or culture. From Italian to Chinese lyrics, the song embraces two traditions, two stories, demonstrating that harmony and cooperation are possible. The traditional Christmas video becomes a symbol of the importance of global unity, through a language that everyone can understand.

Giorgio Girondi: a promoter of relations between Europe, Italy and China

UFI Group Chairman Giorgio Girondi has been committed to promoting international dialogue for many years. As an advisor of the Italian delegation to the European Parliament, Girondi has a unique experience of the economic and cultural dynamics between Europe and China, and is therefore actively contributing first-hand in building bridges and stable relations between these countries. The Christmas video reflects not only his personal commitment, but also his vision: to promote stability, lasting relations and cooperation between nations.

A wish for a future of hope and cooperation

The message of the UFI group goes beyond the meaning of Christmas festivities: it is a wish for the future. It expresses a vision of a more united world, where technological innovation, sustainability and cultural relations are the true engines of progress and peace.

From the UFI group, a sincere wish for peace, hope and cooperation between nations for the future.

UFI Filters, a global leader in filtration and thermal management, as well as sustainable mobility and hydrogen technologies, received the prestigious ‘Top Investor’ award as part of the China Awards 2024. The event, organised by Italy China Council Foundation-ICCF and Milano Finanza-Gruppo Class Editori, was held on December 4^th during the traditional ‘Charity Dinner’ at the ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ Museum of Science and Technology in Milan, in the presence of prominent personalities such as Mario Boselli, President of the Italy China Council Foundation- ICCF, and Paolo Panerai, Publisher and Managing Director of Class Editori, who welcomed Liu Kan, Consul General of China in Milan, Luo Jin, Minister Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Italy, ?and Lorenzo Riccardi, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China.

A strategic investment: UFI GREEN

The award was presented to UFI Filters for its significant investments in China, culminating in the inauguration of UFI GREEN, the Group’s first industrial site entirely dedicated to sustainable mobility technologies. Located in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, this plant covers an area of 42,000 m2 designed to minimise emissions and energy consumption. Thanks to the installation of 15,000 m2 of photovoltaic panels, UFI GREEN is positioned as a model of energy efficiency and technological innovation.

At this industrial site, the company develops thermal management systems and advanced filtration solutions for electric, hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles. “This plant is not only a strategic investment, but also a statement of our commitment to a more sustainable future,” commented UFI Filters CEO Stefano Gava, accepting the award. “Every year, we strengthen our presence in China with targeted investments in the development of new products, equipment and production facilities. By 2025, we aim to further expand our offering, also entering new market segments.”

Consolidated leadership in China

UFI Filters has been present in China since 1982, where it now has seven production plants, including a research and development centre and a laboratory with over 100 highly specialised engineers. With its two aftermarket brands, UFI and SOFIMA, the company covers 93% of China’s car fleet, confirming its leading role in a market that, with more than 27 million vehicles sold each year, is the leading automotive hub globally.

UFI Filters President Giorgio Girondi, in video link to the ceremony, commented: “Receiving an award at the China Awards for the third time is a great honour. This award celebrates our journey in China, which began in 1982 and has grown to seven production plants, a research centre and more than 2,000 people, and it also testifies to our leadership in world markets. Indeed, China is the world’s largest automotive market, it is leading the global electrification revolution, and our connection with this country is based on a shared vision of innovation and sustainability. In my new role as Advisor of the Italian delegation to the European Parliament, I want to bring forward a clear message: Italy and China share a fundamental goal, that of building bridges and stable relations.” Girondi also emphasised the importance of local partnerships and the Chinese government’s constant support in the development of new technologies.

Social commitment and sustainability

In addition to technological investments, UFI Filters promotes social responsibility initiatives in China, such as the sustainability contest organised in cooperation with the Shanghai Daily newspaper. UFI Filters’ innovation is not limited to products, but extends to its commitment to the community and the environment.

UFI Filters thus confirms itself not only as a global leader in sustainable mobility, but also as a bridge of dialogue and cooperation between Italy and China, contributing to the development of an increasingly green and technologically advanced future.

UFI Filters Group has been awarded the “Panda d’Oro Award 2024”, one of the most prestigious recognitions within the 13th edition of the “Panda d’Oro Gala Awards”, the traditional event organised by the Italian Chamber of Commerce in China (CICC) with the support of the Embassy of Italy in China, the Consulate General of Italy in Shanghai, and with the cooperation of the Italian Cultural Institute of Beijing and Shanghai. The main theme of this year’s ceremony was ‘Marco Polo – 700 years later’, celebrating the symbol of international relations and highlighting Italy’s historical importance in cultural and economic exchanges with China.

UFI Filters Group received the highest honour, the “Panda d’Oro Award” the iconic award for the Italian companies that invested the most in the Chinese market during 2023.

This is the third time in its history that UFI Filters has received this important accolade, the first being in 2010 for growth in the Chinese market and the second in 2021 for innovation.

Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of the UFI Filters Group comments: “The first time was in 2010, when the award was in its first edition. At that time, UFI was ranked first and other recognitions went to FIAT, Costa Crociere and Bulgari. The first Chinese company on Italian soil was Huawei, which was still unknown to us, and we smiled when we wondered who it was, as it only had 450 employees in Italy at the time. Today, however, it is the colossus we all know and has over 97,000 employees in R&D and $9 billion in net profit. Perhaps it was better not to laugh and realise what China would become’. After UFI, Ferrero and Ferrari among others were awarded in the following years.

The ceremony was held at the W Hotel in Shanghai on 15th June and represented an important meeting point for the Italian and Chinese business community. It was attended by the Ambassador of Italy to China, Massimo Ambrosetti, the Consul General of Italy in Shanghai, Tiziana D’Angelo, the Director of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA/ICE) for China and Mongolia Francesco Pensabene, the President of the CICC, Lorenzo Riccardi, and second-level inspector of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce, Liu Taiqiu, Director of Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board, Xue Feng, Deputy Director of the Office of Hongkou District People’s Government of Shanghai, Zhang Jingyun.

International Liaison Department, Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai, Li JieUFI Filters has been honoured with the “Panda d’Oro Award” thanks to its continuous investments in the country of the dragon, where this year it inaugurated its seventh plant, UFI GREEN in Jiaxing. This is the first industrial site of the Group in China completely dedicated to green technologies, for which it has invested a total of 45 million euros. It is a plant that will run entirely on green energy, where UFI GREEN will develop and manufacture advanced battery thermal management systems and innovative filtration products. These products will be available for electric vehicles (cars, trucks, tractors, excavators, railways and aircrafts, etcetera). The second phase of the plant’s development will be a joint venture with Sinopec, the largest oil company in the Far East, with a planned investment of around 34,000 square metres dedicated to the production of membranes to extract hydrogen from water and membranes to produce electricity from previously separated hydrogen, aiming to provide environmentally sustainable solutions.

Giorgio Girondi, President of the UFI Filters Group comments: “We are very proud to receive this prestigious award for the third time in our history. We arrived in China in the early eighties, with a lot of drive, selling turnkey plants to the Chinese government. We were the first industrial filter manufacturer in the country. Now we have inaugurated our seventh industrial site, which is set to expand its production capacity in the coming years, becoming one of the main centres in China for the production of technologies for electric vehicles and components for the production of green hydrogen”.

UFI Group, a leader in filtration and thermal management as well as technologies for the development of hydrogen mobility, celebrate in Xiuzhou Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, the opening of UFI GREEN, its first industrial site fully dedicated to green technologies in China.

The new factory, the 21^st of the Group, covers 42,000 square meters and is outfitted with cutting-edge production lines and R&D Lab center, employing in total 650 people. With an overall investment of 45 Mil Euros, UFI GREEN will develop and manufacture advanced thermal management systems and innovative filtration products. These products, available for electric vehicles (passenger vehicles, trucks, bus and off-road), hydrogen & fuel cell technologies and industrial filtration, aim to provide more sustainable and efficient solutions.

The products include chillers, liquid cooling condensers, coolers, electric axle heat exchangers, coolant-to-coolant heaters, dry receivers, accumulators, and integrated compact battery thermal management modules for new energy vehicles and energy storage applications.

At full capacity, UFI GREEN will reach the production capacity of 9.4 million units. Additionally, the annual capacity of new innovative filtration media will reach 3 million square meters.

In the second phase, UFI GREEN will be also focused on hydrogen & fuel cell systems as a key development area. The Group has a deep commitment to environmental protection and firmly believes that hydrogen energy is one of the key directions for future sustainable development.

UFI Filters continues to strengthen its structure with the appointment of Paolo Cataldi as the new General Manager of its Aftermarket Business Unit. He joins the leading international group in filtration, thermal management and technologies for the development of hydrogen mobility, taking the lead for the aftermarket globally.

Paolo Cataldi, 55, a graduate in Economics and Marketing from Italy’s University of Bari, has more than 25 years of management experience and a strong background in the automotive aftermarket. Cataldi has a profound knowledge of the aftermarket, having held various strategic positions over the years for leading companies in the spare parts business, from sales, product and marketing to managerial leadership roles and business unit management, both for the Italian and international markets.

Paolo Cataldi, new Aftermarket Business Unit General Manager of the UFI Filters Group, says: “I would like to thank Chairman Giorgio Girondi and UFI Group CEO Stefano Gava for their trust. I am honoured to join a leader in the European and international automotive aftermarket sector. At a moment of great transformation, challenging goals await me, which I will carry out with the support of a professional and well-established team.”

Stefano Gava, CEO of the UFI Filters Group, comments: “We welcome Paolo Cataldi to our Group. We are confident that thanks to his solid experience he will be able to take the UFI and SOFIMA Aftermarket business to new heights. Paolo has the important objective of consolidating and strengthening our market leadership in Italy and to drive other countries in the same direction. UFI is aiming for double-digit growth in the next three years worldwide.”

• Nine out of ten teams present in Formula 1 racing use UFI Filters filtration systems to guarantee reliability and safety for the single-seaters
• Each car is fitted with around fifteen UFI filter elements, which perform essential functions in the fuel and lubrication circuits of the combustion engine, in the hybrid component and the hydraulic systems of the brakes, and in DRS and steering
• Experience in Formula 1 and other motorsport categories, such as the WEC and MotoGP, makes UFI Filters an indispensable partner for manufacturers in the transition to new forms of mobility

UFI Filters, a leading international group in the field of filtration, thermal management and technologies for the development of hydrogen mobility, has cemented its position as a top producer of filtration systems by supplying nine of the ten teams competing in the 2024 Formula 1 season, which starts on 2 March with the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The announcement is a prestigious recognition of the technologies developed by the High-Tech Division of UFI Filters, founded in 1999, and for the company, which has seen a continuous series of successes in the motorsport’s top category since 1978.

In Formula 1, UFI Filters does not limit itself to providing teams with oil, air and petrol filters. The complexity of today’s racing cars also demands up to fifteen filter elements in a car. In total, UFI produces around 8,000 such F1 filters annually.

Tailor-made solutions

For Formula 1, each filter is tailor-made for the needs of the different teams, with customised solutions provided in terms of size and materials used (which can include medical aluminium, carbon fibre and titanium). Their design requirements are the result of a co-design process between technicians in UFI Filters’ High-Tech Division and the individual racing teams. Often, during the course of the season, updates and modifications to the filters are also requested by the teams, based on the developments gradually introduced in the cars.

The filters used for the cars can be subdivided, according to their location.

• Filters for combustion engines are located in the air intake, in the fuel supply and lubrication circuits. These are high-tech filters, which must not only trap dust and chips, but also any contaminants that may form in the special petrol used in Formula 1. The engine oil circuit also requires adequate protection: in addition to the main filter, there are secondary filter elements, and several ‘last chance filters’, which act on the recovery pumps.
• The filters in the hydraulic circuits play an essential role in driver safety. Their presence in the systems that preside over the hydrodrive, the activation of the mobile rear wing (the DRS) and the braking circuit are fundamental.
• The hybrid system with which the single-seaters are equipped, involves the presence of an energy-storage battery, the temperature of which must remain within an optimal range: dielectric fluids are used for its cooling, the filtration of which is guaranteed by UFI Filters.

Not just Formula 1

UFI Filters has accumulated a great deal of experience in motorsport, starting as early as the second half of the 1970s. Today, UFI Filters filtration systems are present not only in Formula 1, but also in many other motorsport categories. In particular, in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) they are on board the Ferrari 499P, the winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours 2023, and the 296 GT3, as well as Lamborghini and Isotta Fraschini Hypercars. UFI Filters also supplies the heat exchanger for the front electric axle of the Isotta Fraschini Tipo 6 LMH, which increases the efficiency and reliability of the system. This is proof of the advanced technologies developed by UFI Filters, which is not only a leader in filtration systems, but also plays an significant role in Thermal Management, an area of increasing importance due to relevance of e-axle temperature management.

UFI Filters are also used by all Formula 2 and American IndyCar single-seaters built by Dallara.

In motorcycling, UFI Filters supplies its products to MotoGP (for Aprilia and KTM), Moto 2, Moto 3 and Superbike.

Italian pride

“It was 1978”, recalls Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of the UFI Filters Group, “when UFI Filters won its first Grand Prix in Great Britain with Carlos Reutemann’s Ferrari 312 T3, inaugurating a long series of triumphs. Since then, through sacrifice, dedication and passion, we have been able to develop customised solutions for the needs of nine out of ten Formula 1 racing teams. In light of this, we are continuing towards our goal of winning all the teams within the next two seasons. This is a source of great pride for our company, which is increasingly perfecting the advanced technologies that will also characterise the important transition which the automotive industry is undergoing”.

UFI Filters has named Stefano Gava as its new group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Rinaldo Facchini. The Board of Directors of UFI Filters, a leading international group in the field of filtration, thermal management and technologies for the development of hydrogen mobility, met on 16 January to approve the appointment.

Gava, born in Vittorio Veneto (Italy) 43 years ago, was previously COO (Chief Operating Officer) EMEA of UFI Filters. The Italian national graduated in Economics and Finance at the University of Udine. In 2015, he joined UFI Filters as Group Chief Financial Officer, based in the Shanghai office in China, where he was able to count on many years of experience working in finance for companies in the architecture, engineering and construction sectors in China and South-East Asia.

Gava has occupied a number of top positions within the UFI Group, and in 2020 he was promoted to Chief Operating Officer Americas, based in Detroit, before moving to the group’s Italian headquarters to assume the role of COO EMEA in 2022. Last year in June, Gava was recognised as a 2023 Rising Star by the industry publication Automotive News Europe.

Stefano Gava succeeds Rinaldo Facchini, who has been CEO of UFI Filters Group for the past 10 years, having held increasingly important managerial roles within the group’s Administration and Finance units since 1986.

Giorgio Girondi, Chairman of the UFI Filters Group, says: “UFI Filters is well recognised for actively promoting the most talented among us, thanks to mentoring and “cross-fertilisation” programmes that aim to enhance the group’s experience in different regions and contexts, while developing strong leaders. The appointment of Stefano Gava makes us proud because he represents the best example of our people-centred corporate culture. I would also like to thank Rinaldo Facchini for having contributed to the company’s growth in relation to the future of mobility. It is now Stefano’s turn to continue along this path, which I am sure he will be able to follow successfully”.

Stefano Gava, the new CEO of the UFI Filters Group, comments: “I would like to thank Chairman Girondi and the Board of Directors for their trust. I am honoured to receive this appointment and to take up the baton in leading the company through the challenges that the ongoing technological transition is setting us. Regarding this transformation, I consider it fundamental to continue investing in the technological innovations that will support the future of the company, and at the same time, integrate the new sustainability models promoted by our customers”.

“Innovation is part of our DNA, and it is the distinctive trait that helped our development in the market until now”, with these words, the UFI Filters Group Chairman, Giorgio Girondi, opens the exclusive interview with Automobile & Parts, one of the most popular Aftermarket magazines in China, by outlining UFI’s contribution to a more sustainable future

There’s a broader global attention to emission containing policies, as testified by the agreement signed by global leaders in Paris in 2015, and the plan set forth by the EU to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and progressively increase the share of renewable energies and energy efficiency before 2030.

In this foreword, UFI Filters – global leader in the filtration, thermal management and hydrogen filtration technology fields – is increasingly committed to supporting cars and heavy vehicle manufacturers, by developing solutions for new electric vehicles (NEV – New Energy Vehicles).

The interview shows how the drive of a constantly evolving market, such as the Chinese one, with more accentuated evolutionary timeframe, compared to the European market, along with the innovation that is an integral part of the UFI Filters Group’s DNA, is the winning combination that marks UFI Filters’ success in both China and worldwide.

The Chinese market has always been an important benchmark. The quick development of new vehicles and technologies provides the chance to work in a scenario that moves with extreme rapidity. Innovation – an integral part of UFI Filters’ DNA – is the answer to this market. “Being one step ahead” is one of the values the Group invests in, to provide solutions that anticipate future demand. With its GLOCAL approach (local production with a global perspective), UFI Filters can serve local customers, by developing its products in one of the 3 Innovation Centers located in Italy, China and India, and spreading know-how in the other production branches throughout the world, for global coverage.

According to the Chairman, the future for mobility without harmful emissions into the atmosphere passes through hydrogen, and this is exactly what UFI Filters has focused on.
For over five years, it has focused on searching for and developing technologies that can be installed on any kind of vehicle, both heavy vehicles, cars, and light commercial vehicles. The Advanced H2 brand was created to identify those products for hydrogen mobility, such as the UFI Adsorber cathode air filters, which ensures the best operation of the fuel cell, and the deioniser, which deionises the cooing circuit coolant.

The UFI Group has been present in China for over forty years; and today, it can count on 7 industrial sites, the last of which is about to be opened in the Zhejiang province, in Jiaxing, and will be entirely devoted to developing products for NEV.

Chairman Giorgio Girondi concludes “The future will be greener. We are entering the new era of hydrogen technology, and our Group is ready to guide this process with five years of unfailing devotion. Get ready while I’m about to unveil revolutionary innovations for hydrogen mobility. Stay tuned with UFI Filters’ world, as our momentum is just beginning!”

Read the complete interview here: