Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd., a joint venture of Rane Group with the German ZF Group, opens new facility for occupant safety products at Tiruchirapalli (Trichy), Tamil Nadu.
The facility is strategically located in Trichy-Chennai national highway, 40 kms from Trichy and 300 kms from Chennai. The new facility will address the expected market demand and add capacity to localize laser cutting of fabrics and airbag cushion manufacturing for captive and exports.
The company has invested around Rs. 400 million in the new facility. Initial capacity will be around 0.50 million modules per annum of Airbags and 1 million units per annum of Seat Belt assemblies. Further, this would be ramped up to 1 million modules per annum of Airbags and 2 million units of Seatbelt assemblies in next two years, with an additional investment of around Rs 250 to 300 million. These investments are aligned with the goal to bring best-in-class technology to help customers to offer products with enhanced safety.
Commenting on the new facility, Mr. Harish Lakshman, Vice Chairman, Rane Group & Managing Director, Rane TRW Steering Systems Pvt. Ltd. said, “This new state-of-the-art facility will help us to address increasing demand for occupant safety products and enable us to further localize the airbag cushion manufacturing process. In this milestone of Occupant Safety Division, I would like to thank our customers and partner ZF for their support in this growth journey.”
Pointing out the strategic significance, Dr. Michael Büchsner, Executive Vice President, Passive Safety Systems Division, ZF Group added: “The Indian market is increasingly important for ZF Group and particularly for our Passive Safety Systems Division. Our joint activities with Rane are appreciated by local OEMs and support our competitiveness for global customers and platforms. The opening of the joint bag sewing plant in Trichy is the next logical step to further increase our vertical integration and thereby our customer service. That is only possible thanks to the continuous support by our JV partner Rane.”
Adding on the importance for the Indian market, Mr Suresh KV, Head of ZF India Pvt. Ltd. states, “Safety is becoming a key driver for tomorrow’s mobility. With this investment both of the joint venture partners firmly support the target to significantly reduce the number of total road fatalities. Bringing key safety technology to the Indian market underlines the growing importance of this region for the automotive world.”