TORONTO, Nov. 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Martinrea International Inc. (TSX : MRE) a diversified and global automotive supplier engaged in the design, development and manufacturing of highly engineered, value-added Lightweight Structures and Propulsion Systems, today announced Martinrea Innovation Development (MiND), a recently-established organization dedicated towards incubating, developing, and funding innovative technologies that can be directly applied to Martinrea’s operations.

MiND is led by Bruce Johnson, Executive Vice President, Martinrea Innovation Development. For nearly 15 years, Johnson has held increasingly progressive roles with the Company and was most recently Executive Vice President of the Lightweight Structures Group. He reports to Pat D’Eramo, President and Chief Executive Officer and works closely with the senior executive team, including Rob Wildeboer, Executive Chairman.

MiND is involved with the following Martinrea equity investments:

• NanoXplore – Martinrea holds a 22.2% interest in NanoXplore (TSX : GRA), the world’s largest producer of graphene.
• VoltaXplore – Martinrea has a 50/50 joint venture with NanoXplore to develop graphene-enhanced lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle applications.
• AlumaPower – Martinrea holds a minority equity position in AlumaPower, a private company that is developing aluminum air battery technology for a variety of end markets, including automotive.
  

Martinrea is also involved in several other initiatives, including additive manufacturing, robotics, and software. In each case, in addition to cash investments where warranted, Martinrea provides the full range of its operational and strategic expertise to its partners, including manufacturing excellence, product development, supply chain management, and other functional disciplines, with broad support from Martinrea staff, including senior executive management. While some of the Company’s early investments have focused on innovations specific to electric vehicles, MiND has a broad mandate, and will accelerate strategic innovations and enhance our business with advanced products or technology solutions for our customers. MiND also has a mandate to support innovation development within Martinrea’s existing operations, including plants, technical centers, and offices. MiND sponsors, supports, and shares these advances across the organization.

“Martinrea continues to advance its technology both inside and outside of the mobility space,” said Pat D’Eramo, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We manufacture a broad range of innovative products that differentiate us, such as new graphene-enhanced offerings. Our global team has the skills and resources to bring these innovations to market, and our MiND initiative is core to helping us advance this endeavour.”

“We are seeing tremendous progress with our innovation initiatives,” said Rob Wildeboer, Executive Chairman. “We are excited about each of them. Our vision, of course, is making people’s lives better and all these initiatives are developing disruptive modern technologies we believe can change the world we live in. From a valuation perspective, we have done very well. The value of our investments to date, with a cost under $50 million, have multiplied over five-fold, which demonstrates that MiND can be a great source of value for us.”

About Martinrea International Inc.

Martinrea International Inc. (TSX: MRE) is a leader in the development and production of quality metal parts, assemblies and modules, fluid management systems, and complex aluminum products focused primarily on the automotive sector. Martinrea operates in 57 locations in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Slovakia, Spain, China, South Africa and Japan. Martinrea’s vision is making lives better by being the best supplier we can be in the products we make and the services we provide. For more information on Martinrea, please visit www.martinrea.com. Follow Martinrea on Twitter and Facebook.

For further information, please contact:

Media Contact:
Deanna Lorincz, Global Director, Communications and Marketing
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 248.392.9727
Mobile: 586.634.1766

Investor Relations Contact:
Neil Forster – Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Development
E-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 289-982-3020
Mobile: 647.210.2385