MANN+HUMMEL, the German automotive components supplier, has opened a new manufacturing plant at Bawal near New Delhi, which will help the company to become a strong contender of other major OEMs in North India. Mr. Kazuhiko Ayabe, Board member, Maruti Suzuki, inaugurated the plant.
Filter systems for the air and fluid management of the engine, which will mainly be used for passenger cars and industrial applications will be manufactured at the newly opened plant. The extremely environment friendly Bawal production plant would prove to be an important part of MANN+HUMMEL's expansion strategy in Asia.
Alfred Weber, President & CEO of MANN+HUMMEL Group on the inauguration of the new plant said, “It is our goal to be first choice for our Indian customers and top supplier in our segments in Asia. By 2018, we will increase our Asian sales share to 25 per cent, and India is one of our key markets in Asia to reach this goal. The inauguration of Bawal is part of our continuous growth plan.”
The Bawal plant will serve MANN+HUMMEL's customers in the Northern, Central and Western part of the country. These customers are currently serviced from the company's plant in Tumkur near Bangalore. The new plant would not only make deliveries on time, but would also reduce the transportation cost. Moreover, the new plant would also fulfil the company's commitment made to its largest customer Maruti Suzuki. Apart from this, the new plant would also cater to the requirements of the company's other customers like Tata Motors, Suzuki, GM, M&M, Volvo Eicher and many others. The plant is spread over an area of 10,000 square meters and will have an annual production capacity of around two million products. There is also a possibility that the capacity of the plant will be doubled depending on the market demand.
Pradeep Randhawa, Managing Director of MANN+HUMMEL INDIA, reiterating the group's commitment to India said, ”We are making significant investments to enhance our R&D capabilities to support our ambitious growth targets in India and have invested in one of the most advanced testing and validation facilities in the country to be able to launch our products locally. This helps us tremendously to align ourselves with the demands of Indian OEMs and to meet the challenging targets for time to market.”
