About

Faurecia is a major global leader in automotive technology particularly in the technology of emissions monitoring and interiors. Its Mexican legal operations are led by a strong in-house team headed by general counsel, Leonardo Medellin, who has worked for the company for around four years, and who created the legal department at Faurecia Mexico. Recently, Laura Berazaluce joined the team reporting directly to Medellin. Berazaluce has increased customer satisfaction and brought new ideas to the team in order to be more efficient and increase customer satisfaction. In the last year, one of the team’s most important changes, which Medellin believes will have the biggest impact on the organisation, was the coming together of the North America team. Due to Faurecia’s growth in Mexico, the legal matters have become more challenging, demanding the team in the US and Mexico to join forces to resolve matters through a global in-house vision. The team has also been hard at work in terms securing the acquisition of 49% of the shares of an important French group, specialised in the fields of cutting, stamping, assembling and welding of automotive parts. It has also enabled the company to design what Medellin describes as the ‘cockpit of the future’. Faurecia’s legal team is pioneering in developing a comprehensive technology offer that makes the cockpit of the future a reality today. It has also worked on the sale and lease back of industrial premises in Puebla and San Luis Potosi and led the project for a new headquarters building in Puebla. Medellin highlights that, ‘working at Faurecia, developing the new legal team with a new business oriented mind-set has been a real challenge in my career… this is the future, and I’m very proud to be leading it at Faurecia’.