Mahle Group has a new facility manufacturing air filter systems and intake modules near Chennai (in the southern India state of Tamil Nadu), supplying the Indian car industry.
Mahle is targeting major automakers in the region including Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, Ford, Daimler, and BMW, as well as several domestic producers.
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“The plant will supply air filters to Nissan for its Micra,” said Mahle Filter Systems (India) plant head, a Mr Gurunathan. The company is talking with other automakers in the region and hopes to announce more supply deals soon.
Mahle has designated the new plant a ‘competence centre for plastic injection moulding in India. It currently outsources much of its injection moulding in India with only its Gurgaon plant (in the northern state of Haryana) overmoulding air filter elements.
Mahle broke ground for the new plant in June 2010 and the building was completed by December. Installation of production equipment and basic facilities was finished by the end of last January.
Mahle has plans beyond air filters and intake modules for the INR300m factory – current capacity is 150,000 a year of each. “We will commence production of cylinder head covers with integrated oil mist separation from next year,” Gurunathan said.
The plant currently employs 80 people but that will rise to 150 shortly. The first shipments to Nissan start in August.
Mahle operates six plants in India, producing filter systems, plus pistons and engine components. The facilities are in Gurgaon, Maralmalainagar, Parwanoo, Pithampur and Pune plus the new Chennai site.
