New facilities added at Bangalore, Pune centres
Continental, the leading international automotive supplier, has just announced expansion of its manufacturing and validation competence in India. Under its Powertrain Division, it set up its new test and validation lab for fuel supply systems at its Bangalore development centre, while two product lines for fuel rail assembly and in-tank fuel pumps were opened at the Pune facility.
The lab and the two new product lines are intended to attain Continental’s goal of achieving the highest degree of localization across the value chain and also to satisfy the increased demand from customers.
The new lines added at the Pune plant will have the capacity to produce one million additional units of fuel rail injectors and fuel pumps of different range. The test & validation lab for fuel supply systems ensures local testing infrastructure and competence. With the globally standardized testing and validation process at Continental, the results at the India center can be shared and compared with other global locations. Hence OEMs will benefit from Continental’s global expertise.
According to Joerg Laatsch, Head of Business Unit Engines Systems India, the localization of the fuel rail assembly is a further milestone in coming closer to complete localized gasoline engine management systems and support the company strategy to serve its Indian customers directly.
Dr. Markus Distelhoff, Executive Vice President, Business Unit, Fuel Supply at Continental AG, observed: “We are witnessing a huge traction for our Powertrain systems and technologies in India, and we have been working on the Indianisation of these solutions tailor made for Indian OEMs over the past few years. The current investments will definitely help us in meeting the increased customer demand and also leverage our global expertise in the Powertrain domain for Indian OEMs”.
Said Claude d’Gama Rose, Managing Director of Continental India: “We have yet again proved our commitment to the Indian market. We have had a series of investments and corporate announcements in 2011, including the acquisition of Modi Tyres, buying back the remaining shares at a JV with Rico Auto, the entry of Benecke-Kaliko (a part of the ContiTech division) into the Indian market, Phase III expansion of our Technical Center India, etc. With the backing of these investments, we are quite confident of reaching the projected growth in India”.
Continental is banking on its localization strategy and believes it is the key to its growth in the developing markets. With a high degree of localization of the value-added chain, Continental is capable of offering high-end technology with global standards customized for the Indian market and, more importantly, at an affordable cost. It successfully combines its technical expertise and global exposure with the know-how of its Indian engineers and specialists. Earlier, in 2011, Continental announced its strategy to double growth in India and made significant investments across its divisions and business units.
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, the company contributes to enhanced driving safety and global climate protection. It is also an expert partner in networked automobile communication, with approximately 167,000 employees in 46 countries.
The Automotive Group with its three divisions – Chassis & Safety (sales of approximately Euro 6.5 billion and 33,000 employees), Powertrain (sales of approximately Euro 5.8 billion and 31,000 employees) and Interior (sales of approximately Euro 6.1 billion and 32,000 employees) – achieved overall sales of approximately Euro 18.5 billion in 2011. The group is present in more than 170 locations worldwide. As a partner of the automotive and commercial vehicle industry, it develops and turns out innovative products and systems for a modern society, in which cars provide individual mobility and driving pleasure consistent with driving safety, environmental responsibility and cost efficiency.
The Chassis & Safety Division develops and produces electronic and hydraulic brake and chassis control systems, sensors, driver assistance systems, airbag electronics and -sensorics, washer systems and electronic air suspension systems. Its core competence is the integration of active and passive driving safety into ContiGuard.
The Powertrain Division integrates innovative and efficient system solutions for vehicle powertrains. The comprehensive range of products includes gasoline and diesel injection systems, engine management, transmission control, including sensors and actuators, as well as fuel-supply systems and components and systems for hybrid and electric drives.
Information management is at the very heart of the Interior Division that provides a range of products like instrument clusters and multi-functional displays, control units, electronic car-entry systems, tyre-monitoring systems, radios, multimedia and navigation systems, climate control systems, telematics solutions and cockpit modules and systems.