The Hindu Business Line : Delphi relocates some product lines to India; may shift jobs too

THE world's largest auto parts' maker, Delphi Corp, has relocated several product lines to India and could shift some jobs from other locations to its subsidiary here.

"We have already shifted certain product lines. More could follow," Delphi's newly appointed Vice-Chairman, Mr David B. Wohleen told Business Line. He said there was also a possibility of shifting some jobs to India or even complementing certain jobs. Another auto parts giant, Bosch, has also relocated some key product lines to its Indian subsidiary.

Mr Wohleen said Delphi would be keen to enter into a joint venture with Indian companies. "We always look for opportunities. We could enter into a joint venture. Our joint venture with TVS is one example," he said. The joint venture company based near Chennai manufactures diesel systems.

Mr Wohleen said the Indian subsidiary is expected to post revenues of around $500 million by 2010 from the current revenues of around $100 million. The $28-billion auto parts company's revenues from Asia-Pacific during 2003 were $1.04 billion. Delphi has so far invested around $90 million in India.

"On a year-on-year basis, we have grown 20 per cent during the last two years. We expect to grow at the same level," Mr Wohleen said. Delphi India's exports account for around 30 per cent of its total revenues from the country. Delphi and Tata Motors recently inked a deal along AVL of Austria to jointly develop common rail diesel injection engines to power its Indicas and other passenger car variants.

Mr Wohleen said that the relocation of certain product lines from other centres has ensured savings in costs. This has lead to a greater investment in research and development. Some of the product lines, which have been relocated to the Indian subsidiary, are gas-filled shock absorbers, struts, and engine and transmission mounts. These product lines have been shifted from the US and some European countries. Apart from these products, Delphi India also manufactures airlift dampers, wiring harnesses, steering columns and drive shafts.

Though Mr Wohleen did not specify how many jobs would be shifted to India, Delphi has already outsourced some IT jobs to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). In March last year, it said that 30 out of the 148 IT jobs it had cut would be outsourced to TCS. According to independent estimates, about one in five US auto supply jobs will vanish by the end of the decade as US firms move production to lower-cost regions.

Mr Wohleen who was earlier the president of the electrical, electronics and safety sector, was appointed Vice-Chairman early this month. He is also responsible for the company's largest commercial account, General Motors (GM). Delphi was part of GM till 1999.

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