Mann+Hummel India inaugurates 2nd unit at Bawal

German auto component maker, Mann+Hummel has announced the opening of its 2nd manufacturing facility in India that will be located very close to major OEMs in North India. The new plant will produce filter systems for the air and fluid management of the engine, mainly for passenger cars and industrial applications. The new Bawal production site, which is extremely environmentally-friendly in design, represents an important step within Mann+Hummel’s expansion strategy in Asia. The Bawal plant was inaugurated by Kazuhiko Ayabe, Board Member, Maruti Suzuki. The Bawal plant inaugurated will cater to Mann+Hummel India’s customers in the Northern, Western and Central part of India who are currently serviced from the plant in Tumkur near Bangalore. Setting up the plant in Bawal would speed up delivery times and reduce transport costs. The new plant increases flexibility and improves response time, an important aspect in a dynamic market environment like India. Additionally this new plant in Bawal was set up to fulfill the company’s commitment made to its customer Maruti Suzuki,who are currently their largest customer. This new plant would also cater to the requirements of other customers such as Tata Motors, M&M, GM, Ford, Suzuki, Volvo Eicher, JCB, among others. This plant is spread over an area of 10,000 square meters and will have an annual production capacity of approximately two million products with a possibility of doubling the capacity based on market demand. Commenting on the inauguration, Alfred Weber, President & CEO of Mann+Hummel Group stated, “It is our goal to be first choice for our Indian customers and top supplier in our segments in Asia. By 2018, we will increase our Asian sales share to 25 per cent, and India is one of our key markets in Asia to reach this goal. The inauguration of Bawal is part of our continuous growth plan.” Reiterating the group’s commitment to India, Pradeep Randhawa, Managing Director of Mann+Hummel India stated, “We are making significant investments to enhance our R&D capabilities to support our ambitious growth targets in India and have invested in one of the most advanced testing and validation facilities in the country to be able to launch our products locally. This helps us tremendously to align ourselves with the demands of Indian OEMs and to meet the challenging targets for time to market.”