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Neha Kaushik

The relocation of the assembly line would not only help Webasto take advantage of a low-cost manufacturing hub like India, but also target the local car market, which is growing at a steady pace.

New Delhi , Feb. 5

THE Indian manufacturing success story is replicating itself in the auto components sector.

Webasto Motherson, a joint venture between Webasto AG and Motherson, has relocated an assembly line from Germany to India and plans to use the facility to increase the sourcing of automotive sunroofs from its India operations.

Following the relocation of the assembly line, Webasto Motherson has been able to localise about 80 key components, taking the localisation level of the sunroofs to 90 per cent.

Webasto Motherson is a 51:49 joint venture between 1.5-billion-euro Webasto AG, Germany, which is the world's largest manufacturer of automotive sunroofs and Indian auto components major, Motherson.

According to Mr Arvinder Gill, President, Webasto Motherson, the company plans to export about 10,000 sunroofs a year to the parent company in Germany. This would mean that about 50 per cent of total sales would come from exports.

Further, the relocation of the assembly line would not only help Webasto take advantage of a low-cost manufacturing hub like India, but also target the local car market, which is growing at a steady pace.

"We are already original equipment (OE) suppliers to many car manufacturers in India, including DaimlerChrysler. We would be increasing our OE supplies to Skoda. The recently launched Rhino by International Cars would also be carrying our sunroofs," Mr Gill said.

Webasto Motherson currently has a production level of about 13,000 sunroofs a year, which could soon increase to about 18,000-20,000 units.

As the company has only recently begun production, it is eyeing a turnover of Rs 6 crore.

It is targeting to grow this to Rs 20 crore in 2006-07.

Webasto AG has a presence in over 100 countries and is an OE supplier to leading original equipment manufacturers worldwide such as DaimlerChrysler (including the sunroof for super-luxury car Maybach), Porsche, Volkswagen, BMW, Ford, Suzuki, Toyota, Hyundai, and GM, among others.

More Stories on : Automobile Components | New Projects

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