Tenneco Inc. announced last week the opening of a new manufacturing plant in Chennai, India which will primarily produce emission control products and systems for original equipment manufacturers, initially supplying Nissans global small car platform.
The company invested $5 million in the facility -- its seventh manufacturing plant in India -- which began producing exhaust systems for the Nissan Micra in May of this year. Tenneco is also supplying modular assembled struts and shocks to Ford from this new facility. The plant currently employs about 60 people and is expected to expand employment and operations as the company wins new business with OEMs operating in the Chennai area.
"Our facilities in India support domestic and international vehicle manufacturers and are integrated with Tennecos worldwide manufacturing and engineering resources, which is increasingly important as our customers launch global platforms that include India-produced vehicles," said Gregg Sherrill, CEO, Tenneco.
Tenneco first established manufacturing in India in 1995 and has grown its operations to now include 1,500 employees at five production plants and two Just-in-Time (JIT) facilities. In addition to Chennai, the company produces emission control components in Halol and Pune. Tennecos ride control production is in Bawal, Pune, Hosur, and Puducherry. These facilities serve companies including Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Renault-Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen, TVS Motor Company, Toyota Kirloskar Motor, and General Motors.
"We've invested more than $20 million in India over the last three years and look forward to supporting our broad base of customers as they expand in this dynamic market," said Sherrill. "We are now strongly positioned in Indias three major vehicle producing hubs, which will serve as the foundation for achieving Tennecos goal to become the number one emission control and ride control supplier to light vehicle manufacturers in India."
