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MOTORINDIA
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June 2012
well and are in demand. We want to grow with our cus-
tomers and be a part of the Indian growth.”
The US major is in talks with major vehicle manufac-
turers and expects its market share in axle business to go
up from 15 per cent to 30 per cent in the coming months,
while its drive-shaft business commands almost 60 per
cent of the total market. The company is focused equally
on both OEs and aftermarket with its own dealers and
distribution channels across the country.
Dana axles are running successfully in vehicles up
to 31 tonnes on Indian roads, with Ashok Leyland and
Mahindra Navistar being the main customers. For drive-
shafts, Dana caters to more than 90 per cent of Ashok
Leyland’s requirements while it is a single-source for
Eicher heavy commercial vehicles. The company also
takes care of 70 per cent of the needs of Tata Motors’
Pune plant and 25 per cent each of its Lucknow and
Jamshedpur plants.
Dana is keen on leveraging on the improvements in
infrastructure in the Indian market which will drive
the growth of bigger trucks, more powerful engines
and more capable products. It is really betting big on
the two-speed axle, its latest product to be introduced
in the Indian market. The axle offers a high torque
when the vehicle is fully-loaded, and when unloaded,
it switches to a low torque enabling the driver to
cruise at high speeds. The two-speed axle concept
improves the turnaround time, asset utilisation and the
overall vehicle efficiency.
Dana has a technical centre in Pune with an engineer
count of 300, which is set to reach 550 by 2014. The
centre will also have a test lab to set up at a cost of $30
million, where products made by the company’s facili-
ties across the world would be tested.
Dana has two manufacturing facilities in Pant Nagar,
four in Pune and one each in Sattara, Jodalli and Chen-
nai. The company made a turnover of Rs. 1,200 crores
in 2011-12, of which around 13 per cent was contrib-
uted by exports to the US, Europe and
Asia.
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component zone
The company is planning to localise its existing
technologies and products from Europe and North
America in India, as part of its long-term com-
mitment to the market and also leverage on the
growth opportunities.
Focus on Truck industry