Thank you all for coming out on such a beautiful day. And it's certainly nice to see so many familiar faces and the real people that I've worked with in the past and known for many years. Thanks again for coming. The Annual Meeting of Shareholders of Corning Incorporated will please come to order. I'm Wendell Weeks, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and President.
Seated to my left are Lindsay Charley, our Secretary of the Corporation and Deborah Bass, the Inspector of Election. Today's meeting will include our official business as well as my reflections on the state of the company. Following the meeting, we'll have a special presentation from Eric Musser, Executive Vice President, Corning Technologies and International. You have the printed agenda for today's meeting, But let me review the formal action that we will take. Ms.
Jolly will report the number of shares being voted and confirm that the meeting has been properly called. I will introduce the Board of Directors. I'll call for a motion for the election of 13 directors. I'll call for motions for the advisory vote on executive compensation and the frequency of such advisory votes in the future. I'll call for a motion to ratify the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as Corning's independent registered public accounting firm for 2017.
Next, I'll call for a motion for the re approval of the performance goals in our long term incentive plan. Finally, I'll call for a vote on all five motions. After this formal action is completed, I will discuss the state of affairs in our company. Some of you may have questions not covered in my formal remarks. Company officers will be available in the lobby immediately following this meeting to answer your questions or guide you to the best people to address your concerns.
They'll be wearing white badges to help you identify them. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions following my remarks. Just a note, any valid ballots handed in at today's meeting won't be included in this morning's preliminary vote totals, but they will be included in the official vote tally reflected in Corning's SEC filing. Now we'll start the formal part of the meeting. Madam Secretary, may we have your report on the shareholders represented here today?
Mr. Chairman, as of February 27, 2017, the record date for this meeting, the company had 900 and 27,045,692 shares of common stock outstanding and the same number of shares entitled to vote. The Inspector of Election has determined that 813,000,000,799,924 shares outstanding and entitled to represents a quorum for purposes of this meeting.
So as you heard, a quorum is present. May we now have a report on the proof of call and notice of this meeting.
Mr. Chairman, this meeting is being held pursuant to a notice mailed on March 17, 2017, to shareholders of record on February 27, 2017. A list of shareholders entitled to vote this meeting is available for inspection.
Thank you. Please file the documents with the meeting minutes. Now it is not our practice to have the secretary read last year's meeting minutes. However, if anyone wishes to examine last year's minutes, they should see Ms. Jolly after the meeting.
I will now introduce the members of the Board of Directors and ask them to stand when I say their name. Please hold your applause until everyone has been introduced. Mr. Donald Blair, retired Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Nike Doctor. Stephanie Burns, retired Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Dow Corning Corporation Mr.
John Canning, Chairman of Madison Dearborn Partners our Lead Director, Mr. Richard Clark, Retired Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Merck Mr. Robert Cummings, Retired Vice Chairman retired Vice Chairman of Investment Banking for JPMorgan Chase Ms. Deborah Anreta, retired Group President of Global E Business at Procter and Gamble Company Doctor. Daniel Huttenlacher, Dean and Vice Provost at Cornell University's New York City Tech Campus Mr.
Kurt Landgraf, Retired President and Chief Executive Officer of Educational Testing Service Mr. Kevin Martin, Vice President, Mobile and Global Access Policy at Facebook Doctor. Deborah Rehman, Retired Executive Chairman of MetaMarkets Group Mr. Hansel Tookes, Retired Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Raytheon Aircraft Doctor. Mark Wrighton, Chancellor and Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St.
Louis And most of you know 2 of our former directors who are here today, Jim Floss, Retired Vice Chairman and CFO and Emil Houghton, who served as Chairman and CEO. We're honored to have them with us today and we appreciate their ongoing participation. The first business of the day is to elect each of the 13 directors to a 1 year term. I now call for nominations for directors.
Mr. Chairman, I move that the following be elected directors of the corporation to serve a 1 year term or until their successors have been elected: Donald Blair, Stephanie Burns, John Canning, Richard Clark, Robert Cummings, Deborah Henretta, Daniel Huttenlacher, Curt Landgraf, Kevin Martin, Deborah Rehman, Hansel Tookes, Wendell Weeks and Mark Reitman.
I second that motion. Is there any discussion? The second proposal calls for an advisory vote of shareholders approving the corporation's executive compensation as disclosed in the proxy statement. I will now entertain a motion and resolution for that approval.
Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of the following resolution. Resolved on an advisory non binding basis, the total compensation paid to the company's named executive officers as disclosed in the proxy statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders pursuant to the disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the compensation discussion and analysis, the summary compensation table and the supporting tabular and related narrative disclosure on executive compensation is hereby approved.
I second the motion.
Is there any discussion? The 3rd proposal calls for an advisory vote of shareholders on the frequency with which we hold advisory votes on our executive compensation. I will now entertain a motion and resolution for that frequency.
Mr. Chairman, I move the adoption of the following resolution. Resolve that shareholders of the company determine on advisory basis that the company shall hold an annual advisory vote on the compensation of the company's named executive officers.
I second that motion.
Is there any discussion? The 4th proposal calls for ratification of the audit committee's appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as Corning's independent registered public accounting firm for 2017. I will now entertain a motion and resolution for that
Chairman, I move the adoption of the following resolution. Resolve that the shareholders of the corporation ratify the audit committee's appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the corporation's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017.
I second the motion.
Is there any discussion? The 5th and final proposal calls for reapproval of the performance goals in our long term incentive plan as required by Section 162 of the U. S. Internal Revenue Code and as disclosed in the proxy statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. I will now entertain a motion and a resolution for that approval.
Mr. Chairman, I move adoption of the following resolution. Resolve that the material terms of performance goals under Corning Inc. 2012 Long Term Incentive Plan as required by Section 162 ms of the U. S.
Internal Revenue Code are hereby approved.
I second the motion. Is there any discussion? Now it's time to review the voting procedures for the 5 pending motions. Under the corporation's bylaws and SEC rules, the election of 13 directors, the advisory vote on executive compensation and frequency the ratification of the independent registered public accounting firm and the re approval of the performance goals under the 20 12 long term incentive plan will be voted by ballot. Most shareholders have already voted.
If you previously voted by mail, Internet or telephone, there is no need for you to vote again today. Any shareholder who waited and needs to vote now should use the ballot that they received at home. Then raise
your hand and an usher in
a red coat will collect it. You can also obtain a ballot from an usher by raising your hand. The ushers will collect any ballots and give them to the Inspector of Election at the end of the meeting to be included in the final vote count. I now ask the Inspector of Election to report the results to the meeting.
Mr. Chairman, I report that each of the 13 director nominees was elected to the company's Board of Directors by a majority of votes cast. The advisory shareholder vote approved the company's executive compensation program and the advisory shareholder vote was in favor of an annual vote on executive compensation. The majority of votes cast were also in favor of the ratification of the Audit Committee's appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017, and the re approval of the material terms of the performance goals under the 2012 long term incentive plan.
Thank you. I declare that all 13 nominees for Director are elected. The company's executive compensation program is approved. The advisory vote was in favor of an annual vote on executive compensation. The appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for 2017 is ratified and the material terms of the performance goals under the 2012 long term incentive plan have been reapproved.
As I said a little bit earlier, today's vote counts are preliminary. Final detailed numbers will be filed with the SEC in a Form 8 ks in just a few days. That concludes the formal part of the meeting. Now I'd like to talk to you a little bit about how your company is doing. Today's remarks will include some forward looking statements and actual results may differ materially.
You can find detailed risk factors in our most recent 10 ks and also on Corning's website. You should also be aware that we use certain non GAAP financial measures and performance indicators to assess Corning's financial and operating performance. You can find a reconciliation between GAAP and non GAAP measures on our website. And now, it's my pleasure to report that your company is strong. Since I addressed you last year, we have delivered solid financial performance, advanced key innovation programs, strengthened Corning's portfolio with strategic transactions and returned cash to shareholders through stock buybacks and double digit dividend increases.
Most importantly, we have continued to live the values that make Corning such a special company. Let's begin with a quick review of our financial performance. You may recall that we got off to a rush start in 2016, but we turned things around as we have done so many times in Corning's long history and we delivered strong year over year growth in the second half. We've continued that momentum in 2017. On Tuesday, we announced strong Q1 results, including year over year growth in sales, net income and earnings per share.
We're also pleased at how we're performing versus our peers in the S and P 500 since October of 2015 when we introduced our strategy and capital allocation framework, Corning stock has returned about 76% versus approximately 22% for the S and P 500. Of course, we measure success by more than our financial results. It's equally important that we continue our track record of innovation. In 2016, Pointing Scientists earned 4.58 U. S.
Patents, which is a new record for us. We also advanced many key innovation projects. We expanded our cover glass portfolio with Gorilla Glass 5, which is being adopted at twice the rate of earlier glasses over the same time period. Corning Iris Glass was named a 2016 Display Component of the Year by the Society For Information Display. We captured new customer opportunities in Gorilla Glass for Automotive.
And we've won the majority of platforms that have been awarded for gas particulate filters, which reduce emissions in gasoline direct injection engines. We supplemented those organic growth initiatives with strategic acquisitions in optical communications to expand our product portfolio and increase our market access. We also realigned our interest in Dow Corning unlocking $4,800,000,000 in cash. Of course, how we do things is as important as what we achieve. We're proud that we continue to live Corning's values and honor our commitment to sustainability.
I can't possibly share every example. So I'll just hit a few highlights, starting with our commitment to good corporate governance. As most of you know, Corning recently adopted the principles of the shareholder director exchange protocol to help formalize our shareholder engagement process. In 2016, we met with approximately 2 thirds of our top 50 shareholders to solicit feedback on a variety of topics, including governance and compensation. Of course, we also engage regularly with individual investors, and you'll have the opportunity to meet the management committee and discuss any issues that are on your mind in the lobby after the meeting.
We remain committed to effective energy management to help protect this planet that we all share. Over the past decade, we have increased our energy efficiency by more than 30%. Our continuous improvement earned Corning the prestigious Sustained Excellence Award from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for the past 2 years.
We were also named an Energy Star Partner of the Year for the 4th consecutive year. Finally, we are committed to being good neighbors and doing our part to strengthen the communities where we operate. Our people are also generous with their time, their talent and their compassion. In February, we were honored by the American Red Cross for Corning's ongoing financial support and for our 51% employee participation rate in annual blood donor drives. That's not only the highest in the Northeast, it's unheard of to quote the President of the Red Cross.
And to translate that data point into more meaningful numbers, Porting employees have donated more than 24,000 units of blood over the past 10 years, potentially saving more than 72,000 lives. As CEO, I review a lot of numbers, but I'll admit that one is especially meaningful because it reminds me how blessed I am to work with people who are as generous as they are talented. When you add all that up, I think you'll agree that Corning is not only a company that delivers strong results, but also one that you all can be proud of. Now let's talk about how we continue to execute against our strategy and capital allocation framework. We designed the framework to create significant value for shareholders by focusing our portfolio and leveraging our financial strength.
Under our framework, we expect to generate between $26,000,000,000 $30,000,000,000 in cash through 2019. We plan to distribute more than 12.5 plan to distribute more than $12,500,000,000 to our investors through share repurchases and annual dividend increases of at least 10%. And we are making good on that commitment. Since we announced our capital allocation plan in October 2015, we have reduced outstanding shares by 24% through repurchase programs. We increased our quarterly dividend by 12.5% last year and we followed that up with a 14 0.8% increase this year.
In fact, over the past 18 months, we have returned more than 6.5 $1,000,000,000 to shareholders. We are also investing $10,000,000,000 to sustain our leadership and deliver growth over the long term. We are best in the world in 3 core technologies, 4 manufacturing and engineering platforms and 5 market access platform. We focus 80% of our resources on opportunities that use existing capabilities in at least 2 of the three areas. Few competitors can match our expertise in any one of our capabilities.
When we combine them, we create market leading positions and margins. By pursuing this strategy, we believe we increase the likelihood of success, decrease the cost of innovation and create higher, more sustainable competitive barriers. So let's take a closer look at our market access platforms. Optical Communications is a fully evolved example of our focused portfolio in action. We began more than 40 years ago by leveraging our deep knowledge of optical physics, glass science and vapor deposition to transform the telecommunications industry with optical fiber.
Over time, we've increased our value add by leveraging ceramics, extrusion and precision forming. Today, we are reaping the benefits of this unique combination of capabilities in segments like fiber to the home, wireless and hyperscale data centers. Our goal is to add $2,000,000,000 in sales by 2020 and we are well on our way. Just last week, Verizon announced that they will be purchasing more than $1,000,000,000 of our optical solutions to expand their network coverage and capacity. This is a great example of how industry leaders turn to us to realize their vision.
In Mobile Consumer Electronics, we believe we can double our sales through ongoing innovation and strong commercial execution. 1st, we'll capture more value per device by continuing to deliver best in class products. Gorilla Glass 5 leads the market for drop performance, and we are seeing that superior performance translate into a meaningful price premium that increases our revenue and profit per phone. Superior performance also enables us to sell more glass per device. You may have seen the new Samsung Galaxy phone, which features our glass on the front and the back.
Glass is becoming a preferred material for phone backs to support wireless charging and new antenna requirements. This trend is great news for Corning and at least conceptually doubles our addressable market. We're also innovating to make glass even more attractive for devices. For example, our Vibrant technology puts photorealistic images on the glass backs of handhelds and notebooks. We also have launched a glass specifically for screen protectors for those of you who want added protection on their device.
The second way we can grow our sales is by capturing more share in emerging markets. In February, we announced a collaboration with Micromax, India's leading device manufacturer to bring Gorilla Glass to their video smartphones that are designed for the value segment customer. 3rd, we believe we can win in new device categories. For example, Gorilla Glass SR Plus offers outstanding scratch performance on wearables such as the Gear 3 from Samsung. In all cases, our close relationships with our customers enable us to work jointly with them on compelling new mobile consumer products.
In display, we're focused on stabilizing our returns and building a new business with Iris Glass, which enables displays less than 5 millimeters thick. We also continue to leverage our Fusion assets, glass science and optical physics to drive the next round of display innovations, including better images, ubiquitous touch, flexible displays and new form factors. In the automotive market, Corning is well positioned to benefit from the industry's trend towards cleaner, safer and more connected cars. First, we're building on our leadership in clean air technology with the addition of a significant new business for gas particulate filters or GPS. The adoption of GPS for gasoline direct injection engines has the potential to increase our sales opportunity per vehicle by a factor of 3 to 4, with profitability similar to our current business.
2nd,
we're making progress towards commercialization of Gorilla Glass for automotive. Interest in interior applications is accelerating and we continue down the path to additional wins for exteriors. We also generated a lot of excitement at this year's Consumer Electronics Show with our Gorilla Glass concept car. In fact, it was named one of the best innovations of the show. We believe we're addressing issues that automakers and consumers really care about.
So we're excited about getting these capabilities out on the road. Now you're going to hear much more about our automotive platform from Eric Muser in today's special presentation. Finally, in life sciences vessels, our goal is to grow our base business and create a significant new pharmaceutical packaging business. We're building on our leadership position in solutions for cell culture, bioprocessing, cell therapy and genomics. We're also developing next generation glass packaging for drug storage and delivery, which is a $12,000,000,000 market opportunity.
As you can see, we have a robust set of current and near term opportunities. As we look ahead, we are confident in Corning's ability to deliver sustainable secular growth. We're also confident that we can continue doing what Corning does best, transforming industries, enhancing people's lives and delivering long term value. In closing, I want to underscore our commitment to earning your trust every day with our performance and our actions. All of us on the management committee know that it is a privilege as well as a responsibility to lead this great institution, to build on the work of those who came before us and ensure that we lead the company in good shape for those who follow us.
Corning has succeeded for more than 165 years because its leaders always take the long view. We manage not just for each quarter and not just for each year, but for another 165 years of innovation and independence. That means capturing opportunities in today's businesses, while we invest to create tomorrow's growth drivers. It means making strategic choices to ensure sustainable success in a competitive global marketplace. And it means living our values and honoring our commitments to ensure that we continually make Corning a better version of itself.
You are all important participants in this journey. We hope you take pride in the company's achievements and the future that we are building together. Thank you. Now let's return to the final business of the meeting. I hope my remarks address some topics on your mind.
As I noted earlier, company officers will be available to answer your questions in the lobby following Eric's presentation. However, if you're unable to stay, you can ask your question now. If not, I will entertain a motion for adjournment.
I so move.
I second.
All in favor say aye. So ordered, I declare this meeting adjourned. Thank you again. Thanks again for joining us here today. The directors and I need to lead now to take care of some additional business, but please stay seated for Eric Musser's presentation, which will begin shortly.
Thanks again.
Now please welcome Eric Musser, Executive Vice President, Corning Technologies and International. Thank you, and welcome, everyone. I'm Eric Muser, Executive Vice President of Corning Technologies and International. I'm based here in Corning, New York for the 3rd time after having worked and lived for many years in Asia. It's great to be back home and along with my wife, Lee, to be active members of our community.
Here at Corning, we believe that we've entered a new era that we call the glass age. Our belief is based on several factors, including the widespread use of glass and its central role in our day to day life, glass's increasing relevance to a broader range of industries, and the accelerating pace of glass innovations. We believe that we have an unprecedented opportunity to harness the pyroglass to create a world with cleaner air, healthier lives, richer entertainment experiences and superior communication. We're the best in the world in 3 core technologies, 4 manufacturing and engineering platforms, and 5 market access platforms. Today, I will spotlight Corning's innovations in our automotive market access platform.
These innovations enable cleaner, safer and more connected vehicles. Within the automotive market, we're focused on 2 key areas. One is an exciting new business in our Environmental Technologies segment, which I'll spend most of my time on today. The other is our initiative to make Gorilla Glass as common in cars as it is on mobile devices, which you heard about at last year's meeting from my colleague, Marty Kern. Let me give you a brief update on how we're doing.
We originally pursued Gorilla Glass for automotive because we believe that our stronger glass would reduce the weight of cars, making them more fuel efficient and improving handling. As we began working with automakers, we learned that not only does our glass deliver in these areas, but there are additional benefits as well. It's the ideal surface for head up displays and it handles rock strikes twice as well as conventional soda lime windows. And for interiors, it offers completely new design options. To demonstrate, we put it all together in the concept car that generated great excitement when we debuted it at the Consumer Electronics Show in January.
It featured a variety of applications for interiors and exteriors. Let's take a look. You may be familiar with
the name Corning and Gorilla Glass from your smartphone, but this low slung sports car is sort of a tour de force of all the cool things they're doing with car technology today. It's the Corning Connected Concept Car and it's got all sorts of things that they're doing now and things they're going to be doing in the future in cars. Now here in the cabin, I'm virtually surrounded by glass. Let's start at the top. I've got this fully glass roof and backlight that are electrochromatic.
And that means that at the touch of a button, it can go from being virtually opaque to almost totally clear. And that's going to allow me to let a lot of light in when I want it and also keep the sun off of my head when I don't. That's pretty cool. In front of me, I've got a windshield and sidelights that are made of Corning's glass. They're going to be a lot thinner, a lot more scratch and impact resistant, but also a lot lighter than the traditional glass that you'll see in a car.
The advantage there being that the car is now lighter, which means its center of gravity is a little lower. The performance and handling are going to be a little bit better. Of course, in front of me, I've got a full dash board with a continuous display behind this very clear glass. I've got glass here on the steering wheel with an integrated display and some very cool fiber optics around here that can be used for things like driver aid notifications. And finally, here in the center, I've got this completely glass center console.
The really cool thing about this is that because Corning Glass is so strong and flexible, it can be cold formed, which means that it's actually less expensive to manufacture than some of the glass consoles that you've seen in really expensive cars. Of course, the advantages of a glass center console are still here. We've got a really crisp glare resistant display right here for infotainment and a smartphone charging station right here in the armrest. Now as I mentioned, some of these technologies are available today. Cars like Ford GT already use Corning Glass to reduce weight and improve performance, but the rest of these technologies are just around the corner.
We can't wait.
I don't know about you, but I sure wish my car could do all of that. We are seeing progress towards commercialization of Gorilla Glass for auto. Interest in interiors is accelerating and we continue down the path to additional wins for exteriors. Just to give you a sense of the size of the opportunity, this market is nearly twice as large as our current display glass market. It's too early to tell how much we'll capture, but you can see why it's definitely worth pursuing.
Now I'd like to highlight our Environmental Technologies segment and how we plan to grow it. But before we look forward, let's look back in time to show how we built the $1,000,000,000 business that we have today. In 1970, Congress passed the Clean Air Act, setting national air quality and vehicle emission standards and also established the Environmental Protection Agency to implement them. This act required a 90% reduction in emissions from new cars by 1975. Automakers needed a solution and they needed it quickly.
A major American automaker asked Corning to help with a catalytic converter concept for emissions controls. This was a tough technical challenge, but our company has solved these types of challenges throughout our history. Corning rapidly developed its proprietary extrusion process and a promising new material called Cordiare. Within a year, we were shipping millions of substrates, meeting the government's and our customers' deadlines. In fact, our innovation was so impactful that Ronald Lewis, Erwin Lachman and Rodney Bagley were recognized for their pioneering work by the President of the United States and awarded the National Medal of Technology, the highest honor for achievements related to technological progress.
Our environmental business is now global, but as it has been for more than 40 years, it remains anchored right here in the valley at our R and D center in Sullivan Park and our substrate and filter manufacturing facilities in Irwin. In fact, I'm curious, how many of you in the audience today worked at one of these facilities at some point? Could you raise your hands, please? May. That's great to see and we're really glad you were able to join us today.
Since building that initial footprint here in the Valley, we've been growing to meet customer demand with facilities in Virginia, Germany, South Africa and China. Our Corning, New York based commercial engineering and research and development teams are at the heart of it all. Plus, our integrated die manufacturing facility, which produces the precision dies for our extrusion process, is also located here and supports manufacturing operations worldwide. Now I'd like to describe the products that we make at these facilities and how they work. When a gas engine burns fuel, its exhaust carries harmful byproducts such as hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
We invented a ceramic honeycomb substrate with thousands of parallel channels that are open at both ends. When the exhaust enters the substrate, a chemical reaction converts those smog causing elements to harmless gases and water vapor. For diesel vehicles, we also have to contend with solid particulate byproducts. Once the exhaust passes through the substrate, it enters a filter where these particulates are captured on the walls as it passes through. Thanks to our innovation, billions of tons of pollutants have been neutralized or captured by emissions control systems.
The resulting cleaner air has made breathing easier for millions of people, which among many other benefits has significantly reduced the number of premature deaths every year. Now that's not just a life changing innovation, it's also a life saving innovation. Today, Environmental Technologies is a $1,000,000,000 business and we see the likelihood of substantial growth in the future due to market recovery and share gains in our diesel business along with a significant new business for gas particulate filters in automotive. For the first time, a gas particulate filter, also referred to as a GPF, will be used on gasoline vehicles to remove particulates that are present in automobile exhaust. Let's take a virtual flight through a GPF to show you how soot and reduces particulates.
Corning DuraTrap GC filters help trap fine particulates generated by gasoline direct injection engine with an innovative engineered ceramic microstructure. As engine exhaust flows into the filter, the filter design forces the exhaust to flow through the pores of the ceramic walls. Sooth particles are trapped in the walls microstructure and burned off over time by the high temperatures. The large internal surface area created by the unique microstructure allows for metal catalyst application to simultaneously treat greenhouse gas emissions as well. The high filtration efficiency of DuraTrap GC filters allows cleaner air to exit the filter, helping automakers meet new emission standards and protecting the air we breathe.
I hope that helps you to better understand how a GPF works. Now you may be wondering what is driving the industry to deploy filters on gas vehicles when they don't use them today. There are two key reasons. The first is an industry shift from traditional fuel injection engines where the injector is outside the cylinder to gasoline direct injection engines where the injector is inside the cylinder. The benefit of a gasoline direct injection engine is its improved performance.
This includes its ability to deliver better fuel economy, lower greenhouse gases and generate more horsepower more efficiently. However, the downside is that these engines generate more particulates. Gasoline direct injection engines represent roughly 1 third of the market today and are growing substantially. Small particulates emitted by gas engines can cause detrimental health problems. A typical gas engine emits trillions of sub visible particulates every mile.
These particulates are much smaller than the width of a human hair, allowing them to penetrate deep into the body, causing lung and heart problems. The second key reason to deploy GPS is that many countries are adopting new regulations to address these health concerns. These regulations start later this year in Europe and in 2020 in China. You might be surprised that the United States is missing from this slide. That's because the United States is not expected to implement these filter forcing regulations until 2025.
Assuming this occurs in 8 years, it will stimulate even more demand. Let's look at why this is such an important opportunity for Corning. Earlier, I explained that diesel vehicles utilize filters to remove particulates from the exhaust. Up until now that has not been the case for gasoline vehicles. Instead, only a substrate has been required to meet the existing global emission standards.
Since filters are higher value components than a substrate and vehicles with a gas engine represent roughly 75% of the total global vehicle market, We expect that adding a filter to many of these vehicles will increase revenue significantly. In fact, adding a GPF to a system that currently has just a substrate could increase Corning sales potential per vehicle by a factor of 3 to 4. As you can see here, key industry leaders such as Mercedes and Volkswagen have publicly announced plans to incorporate GPS on a large scale into their vehicles. To win the GPS opportunity, we need to do 3 things. The first is to have the best product, which we currently have today with our generation of DuraTrap GC filters.
Automakers consistently call our product superior and Corning leads in the 2 categories that matter most, minimizing the pressure drop from passing through the filter and maximizing the filtration efficiency. The second thing we need to do is win with customers. This slide shows major automakers by region and we work with most of them. Actual awards of commercial GPS volume began in 2016 and we have won the majority share to date. And finally, we must have capacity in place to supply the demand.
At the end of last year, announced new investments of $100,000,000 to address growing demand for GPS. Expansions are underway and we are already making production parts. Here are just a few of the makes and models that automakers have announced will include GPS technology. To date, Porting has won more than 50 models across 20 automakers. We expect initial sales of our GPS to begin during the second half of this year and then grow rapidly for the next several years.
This means that we're transitioning from an opportunity to a reality. We're thrilled to realize this important part of Corning's vision to create a world of cleaner air, healthier lives, richer entertainment experiences and superior communication. And we appreciate your support as we continue on this journey. Thank you.