Continental’s portfolio in India widened
Benecke-Kaliko AG, part of Continental’s ContiTech division and among the market leaders in surface covering materials for automotive interiors globally, enters the Indian market by setting up an engineering and sales office in Pune. “With the engineering and sales office in India, Benecke-Kaliko now has a direct access to Indian OEMs and intends to support the growing demand for luxury interiors for the new generation of Indian customers”, said Dr. Dirk Leiß, CEO of Benecke-Kaliko AG.
The new office will enable the company to work closely with the local OEMs and provide its strong global expertise starting from the early design phase of the project, overall development and successful launch phase to best-in-class customer support during serial delivery. Benecke-Kaliko introduces its premium interior product offerings for instrument panels, door panels, pillar trims, floor consoles, seating systems and sun visors to the fast growing Indian automotive market.
On the occasion, Mr. Chintan Kanakia, Country Manager India for Benecke-Kaliko, said: “Benecke-Kaliko is also now here to support the customers to meet the growing demand for luxury interiors in India. The vehicles in India are experiencing a paradigm shift from the earlier steel interiors in the eighties to hard plastic interiors in the recent times and to soft interiors now and in the future. The end consumer is slowly becoming more matured in terms of requirement of more pleasant interiors to have the feel good factor and the importance of fit – finish and genuine leather look to add to the luxury quotient”.
Claude dGama Rose, Country Head for Continental in India, observed: “Once again, Continental proves its commitment to India by investing in this fast-growing market. With the backing of our state-of-art manufacturing set ups globally, world-class R&D, engineering, design and testing centers, best quality systems and highly experienced people, Benecke-Kaliko can add value to our Indian customers”.
Benecke-Kaliko is part of Continental’s ContiTech division which has its presence in India for many years, operating two production plants and employing around 900 people. Benecke-Kaliko is headquartered in Germany and has a worldwide presence with state-of-art plants in Germany, China and Mexico, in addition to its sales and engineering offices in Europe, the US, Japan, Argentina and Brazil.
With sales of Euro 30.5 billion in 2011, Continental is among the leading automotive suppliers worldwide. As a supplier of brake systems, systems and components for powertrains and chassis, instrumentation, infotainment solutions, vehicle electronics, tyres and technical elastomers, Continental contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection.
Continental is also an expert partner in networked automobile communication and currently has approximately 164,000 employees in 46 countries.