The international automotive supplier Continental launched its new electronic manufacturing facility and R&D center near Electronic City, Bommasandra, Bangalore, India on July 15. The facility will develop and produce electronic components for the booming auto electronic market in India.
In this facility electronic components will be developed and produced for all three Continental automotive electronics divisions -- Chassis and Safety, Powertrain and Interior. The plant will manufacture instrument clusters for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and two-wheelers, immobilizers, engine management systems for diesel and gasoline engines, electronic control units for power assisted steering and body control units out of the Interior Division.
"According to the forecast, from 2012 onwards nearly one out of two cars worldwide will be manufactured in Asia and much of the growth on the Asian auto market will come from the emerging markets like India and China. Also, in the next decade one of the main focuses of the automotive industry will be the so-called megatrend 'affordable cars,' especially in the growth markets like India and China. The Indian emission norms and safety legislations are getting stricter, the vehicles of tomorrow will have more and more electronics built into them," said Jay Kunkel, President Asia.
The automotive R&D and manufacturing facility is situated on a land space of about 18,000 square meters with about 15,000 square meters of total built up area. There are in total three surface mounting technology lines, four pre-assembly cells and sixteen back end cells. The R&D center can accommodate 400 engineers.
"The Indian automotive market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15%. This phenomenal growth opportunity has made it strategically important for Continental to deepen our business in India. We aim to translate our extensive expertise into vehicle technology to provide affordable components and systems to the Indian market. Localization of the entire value chain of R&D, sourcing and manufacturing is our key focus for success in this market," said Dr. Markus Distelhoff, Managing Director of Continental Automotive Components (India) Pvt. Ltd.
