Picture caption: (L to R) Claude d' Gama Rose, MD, Continental
Automotive Components India Pvt. Ltd., Christian Senger, Sr VP, Automotive
Systems and Technology (AS&T), Continental AG, Helmut Matschi , Member of
the Executive Board of Continental AG and President of Interior Division, Chief
Guest S R Patil, Minister for Planning & Statistics, Information
Technology, Biotechnology, Science & Technology, Government of Karnataka,
Guest of Honour. R Chandrashekhar, President, The National Association of
Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), Frank Jourdan - Member of the
Executive Board and Head of the Chassis & Safety Division and Raghav Gulur,
Head of Tech Centre India
Continental AG has now
expanded its research and development footprint by inaugurating their 13,000 square metre
facility in Bangalore. The current head count of engineers now stands at 1000.
The total investment at this R&D technical centre amounts to 12.4 million
Euro (approx. Rs.88.85 crore).
The new Technical Centre India
(TCI) facility at Gold Hill Supreme, Electronic City Phase II will house eight
state-of-the-art R&D labs to meet the increasing demand for engineering and
software development skills to support global R&D projects as well as local
customers.
Helmut Matschi, President of
the Interior Division and Member of the Executive Board of Continental AG said,
“India’s talent pool is strategic to our growth, globally and in Asia.
Continental has invested significantly in the Tech Centre since its inception,
a confirmation of our commitment to India. While our engineers in India are
making valuable contributions to the development of advanced technology for
developed markets, Continental is equally excited by the prospect of growing
with the automotive market in the country.”
“With its access to qualified engineers and
its high flexibility, this tech centre delivers best quality and highly
efficient engineering support to Continental globally. Setting up the TCI is an
ideal situation for us and our customers. We are able to attract the huge
talent pool in India to work on the latest technologies and innovations, while
at the same time offering first-class services globally. For R&D activities
initially in software and algorithm development for advanced driver assistance
systems we hired 150 new engineers in the TCI last year”, said Frank Jourdan,
President of the Chassis & Safety Division and Member of the Executive
Board of Continental AG.
Christian Senger, Senior Vice
President, Automotive Systems & Technology (A S&T) at Continental AG
said that this tech centre was established in 2009 and has expanded rapidly in
scale and capability. Today, he said the engineers in India are developing one
channel ABS solutions for two wheelers alongside highly sophisticated
technologies for domains such as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
“Adding value with its
understanding of the local market and customers, TCI is fast emerging as a
‘Centre of Competence’ for two-wheeler markets and for customised products for
the BRIC countries,” he said.
“TCI has almost doubled its
engineering strength since its establishment. With this expansion, our total
capacity will increase to 1,300, and our headcount will ramp up further in the
near future. We will continue to leverage our local expertise and collaborate
with global teams to deliver solutions that address the needs of the automotive
industry; affordable and safe mobility being two of our key focus areas”, said
Raghav Gulur, Head, Technical Center India (TCI), Continental Automotive
Components India Pvt. Ltd.
TCI is one of Continental’s
three Automotive Systems and Technology (A S&T) hubs worldwide, providing
high quality, cost effective, engineering solutions to Chassis & Safety
projects from business units Vehicle Dynamics, Passive Safety & Sensorics
and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), Interior projects from business
unit Commercial Vehicles and Aftermarket, Body & Security and Powertrain
projects from Engine Systems.