Mr. Franz – Werner Drees, Director & Executive Vice President – Aftermarket & Special OE, Hella KgaA Heuck & Co., was in India recently to meet the Hella India aftermarket team. He was all praise for what the Indian team has achieved under the dynamic leadership of Mr. Ramashankar Pandey who is currently the Director of Hella’s aftermarket operations in India.
It was in mid-2006 that Mr. Pandey undertook the daunting task of re-establishing the Hella brand in the Indian aftermarket. This brand is not new in India, having established its presence with manufacturing facilities nearly five decades ago. Hella entered the India market in 1961 with JMA Industries for horns manufacturing and also had a joint venture with Padmini Engineering for production of horns and actuators, now fully owned and renamed as Hella India Electronics.
But the aftermarket needed more clarity as regards the Hella brand, and Mr. Pandey was entrusted with the responsibility of completely revamping the distribution network and establishing Hella as a trusted brand in the Indian market. In less than three years, Mr. Pandey and his team have been able to achieve the mission, and that’s precisely the reason why Mr. Drees was in India recently to congratulate the team.
Mr. Pandey is not complacent with the success. “This is the first step in our long journey towards establishing the Hella brand as the leading manufacturer of automotive lighting and electronic components, as what it is known to be globally”, he says.
At the meet held recently Hella announced the launch of Behr-Hella service for thermal management in the Indian aftermarket. This opens up a huge opportunity both for the aftermarket division and its business partners.
Behr Hella Service, a joint venture by Behr and Hella, was up in November 2005 for the purpose of jointly covering the global independent aftermarket for vehicle air conditioning and engine cooling. Behr and Hella each have a 50 per cent share in the joint venture. Behr is already present in the Indian market in a joint venture with the Anand Group catering to most of the Indian OEMs, including Tata Motors as the single source for Nano.
This is a big step forward for the aftermarket division in India. This widens the range of products offered by Hella in the Indian aftermarket and makes more business sense for its channel partners to deal in Hella products.
Mr. Pandey says that the vision of Hella’s aftermarket division is to establish the core values that the Hella brand stands for – “Quality”, “Safety” and “Innovation”. To strengthen the distribution reach, Hella plans to complete the appointment of 36 distributors in major Indian metros to promote its accessories and spares segment, both for passenger car and commercial vehicle target market.
Hella has drawn an aggressive road map for expanding its business in the Indian market. With its newly established business organizations Hella India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (HIE), Hella India Lighting Ltd. for SOE and its division (HIL-IAM), as well as design solutions, Hella introduces a comprehensive range of quality automotive parts and accessories through an expanding network of local distribution channel partners across the country.
In 2005, under the leadership of Mr. Stephan Gerres, MD-HIE and HIL, the Hella Group took 100 per cent control in Padmini Engineering Pvt. Ltd. and by 2006, the name was changed to Hella India Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Hella continued with brand name “HELLA” and took control of its core business of actuators, horns, temperature sensors and accelerator pedal sensors.
There is no product turned out by Hella Group in India with the brand name “Padmini” since the third quarter of 2006. Hella has no local partners who are allowed to use technology or brand name of Hella.
Manufacturing facilities
Hella has manufacturing facilities for lighting products at Derabassi in Punjab and for electricals & electronics at Gurgaon in Haryana.
Hella India Electronics (HIE) specialises in the development and production of horns, actuators, flasher sensors, central-locking system control units and switches. It employs more than 500 people at its plant in Gurgaon. Its major customers include Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hyundai, Suzuki, Honda, General Motors and Lumax, and the company is ISO/TS16949/2002 and ISO 14001 certified. The company has achieved “O” PPM with major customers including Honda, Hyundai, and Air International of the US.
As the leader in producing headlamp levelers in India, HIE is expanding its production capacity to keep pace with the growing need of vehicle manufacturers. HIE is also expanding its product portfolio with the manufacturing of accelerator pedal sensors, which will be mandatory with the implementation of Euro-IV emission norms, in addition to introducing newer technologies in India with the latest state-of-the-art products like rain and light sensor, keyless entry, intelligent battery sensors, and various body control modules. HIE is the competency centre for horns in Asia and switches and existing range of thermal sensors globally.
The following are the new product launches for OEMs:
* Accelerator pedal sensor: New environmental norms for all Indian vehicles to have this sensor fitted for better fuel efficiency and ensure stricter pollution control. Hella already enjoys 80 per cent market share for this product in Europe and is already supplying from Germany to Maruti Suzuki. Local manufacturing in Hella India Electronics plant at Gurgaon is expected to start in the third quarter of 2008.
* Rain and light sensor: As driver comfort and assistance systems are getting increasingly popular in India, Hella is putting up its resources to take the bigger pie of this market. The first India customer is Mahindra & Mahindra, where Hella has started supplying these sensors from its German plant.
* Temperature sensors for HVAC application outside ambient temperature measurement.
* Electronic architecture for vehicles with support from Europe and with end electronics with domestic design and production are in the pipeline.
Hella India Lighting (HIL) works closely with local OE customers such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra and Terex Vextra to develop headlights, auxiliary lamps, single function lights and work lamps for their fleet. The company is ISO/TS 16949 certified.
There is also a renewed focus on its “niche” segment strategy of HIL in the area of agro and construction, after the new management has taken over under Mr. Stephan Gerres. The
much-awaited modernization program of HIL’s Derabassi factory accounting for 80 per cent of HIL’s total production is being implemented on a war footing and the “Quality First” approach is being integrated at the shop floor.
Mr. Gerres assured that every single effort is being put at HIL to produce products as per the need of the customer and have all processes inbuilt with customer centric approach. A reliable and responsive marketing communication is being done with all the existing customers in the SOE segments and positive developments are happening by means of customer appreciation about the countermeasure taken to build long lasting credibility. To keep our products competitive, a series of cost cutting measures, including consolidation of manufacturing facilities is being done at a fast pace.
As an original part supplier, Hella continually needs to meet the high demands made by the automotive industry on quality and price merits. All Hella production facilities have in place the most stringent quality tests and standards, to assure customers the reliability of the Hella quality. The manufacturing facilities are equipped with latest testing equipments such as environmental chamber, thermal shock chamber, salt spray chamber, vibration tester, dust chamber and water spray chamber, acoustics chambers with newest available international and domestic technology. Our parts comply with different international accredited standards like CCC, E-Marks as per customers requirements.
Design & development
Hella has also established a design & development (D&D;) centre for sophisticated automobile electronics design in Pune. Currently, more than 130 engineers are working there for international and domestic demands. Since 2006, Hella Group also provides technical solutions for automotive lighting from its Chennai-based D&D; office with more than 40 engineers.
Hella has a very strong aftermarket business all over the world. With sales companies and partners in more than 100 countries, Hella ranks as one of the world’s largest international trade enterprises for automotive parts and accessories.
An important basis for the global success of Hella’s uniquely organised Independent Aftermarket division is its “4+2 strategy”. “4” represents the product in its four core competency fields of lighting, electrics, electronics and thermal management, and “2” stands for aftermarket sales support and technical service.
HIL-IAM is a part of the Asia Pacific regional headquarters for the independent aftermarket located in Singapore, with operations spanning across 26 markets. With a new set-up and head office in Gurgaon and regional teams at Mumbai and Chennai, HIL-IAM aims to aggressively expand its distribution channels country wide, and has recently appointed distributors in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Gawhati, Ahmedabad, Surat, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mangalore, Cochin, Goa, Nagpur, Raipur, Pune, Jaipur, Ludhiana, Gaziabad, Jamshedpur, Patna & Jammu, all within the past year.
Along with popular products such as Red Grill supertone horns, disc horns and reading lights for the passenger car segment, as well as headlights, lighting spares and rear lights for the commercial vehicle segment, Hella has integrated its global product offerings with the latest technologies to provide driving comfort and safety on Indian roads. This is backed up by world class logistics set-up, sales and technical service support by expanding the aftermarket organization base to major metros of India.
Hella has announced the launch of its new website, www.hella.co.in, specifically for the Indian market. This website serves as a portal to provide quick insights and direct access to information on Hella’s organizations and services in India.
“The website is a positive step forward to build the Hella brand in India. Product information is readily available and updated regularly In the near future, we hope to incorporate other elements to keep the website more interactive and interesting for our customers,” commented Mr. Pandey.
