MG Rover Group is exploring the option of outsourcing batteries for its cars to India’s biggest automotive battery manufacturer, Exide Industries Ltd., Exide chairman SB Ganguly told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday.
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“Rover has inspected our factories as part of its global outsourcing programme. This outsourcing deal is for Rover’s own cars and we are very much hopeful about this deal,” Ganguly told the news agency in an interview.
But he reportedly added that the deal hasn’t been “finalised yet,” although Exide is already supplying batteries to Rover through local car maker Tata Motors Ltd., which is exporting its small Indica car to Rover [for sale in the UK and Europe as the CityRover].
Ganguly told Dow Jones the proposed global outsourcing deal with Rover isn’t linked to the Tata Motor-Rover arrangement.
He reportedly noted that Exide’s battery sales in India to car makers such as Honda Motor and Hyundai Motor have helped the Indian company gain access to developed markets in the west.
“We are now not just competitive on cost but also on quality,” Ganguly told Dow Jones.
Dow Jones said Calcutta-based Exide has around a 50% share of the $450 million domestic vehicle and industrial battery market.
