As the Indian auto industry ramps up production capacities to meet growing demand, component makers in turn are gearing up to meet demand from the OEMs. The largest auto air conditioning manufacturer, Subros Auto Air Conditioning Systems, is planning to set up another facility in Chennai to cater to the auto hub there.
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The Chennai region is home to Renault-Nissan, Hyundai and Ford car factories.
“We are planning an air conditioning plant in Chennai by 2011,” Subros chairman Ramesh Suri told just-auto at an industry event in New Delhi.
Subros has 42% of the Indian air conditioner market. The company has three plants at Pune, Manaesar & Noida. It is also readying a fourth plant at Sanand which is not yet operational.
Capacity is being raised to 1.5m. “We have capacity to manufacture 1m units which will be raised to 1.25m by the end of 2010 and 1.5 million by end of 2011,” said Suri.
“We have earmarked an investment of nearly INR1bn (about US$21.3m) for capacity expansion in the next three years.”
Subros is also eyeing heavy commercial vehicle air conditioners. “We are talking with Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland about supplying air conditioning systems for new generation truck ranges,” said Suri.
Subros has already started manufacturing air conditioners for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) and Force Motors is one of its key Indian clients. The auto air conditioning business is growing at the rate of around 10-12% here.
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