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Continental, an automotive supplier and tyre maker, plans to expand its R&D arm in India.
The German company with a turnover of €35 billion opened a new facility in Bengaluru, which has the capacity to add 1,000 engineers who work in areas such as advanced safety systems in vehicles.
Continental plans to invest €12.4 million in the new facility which is spread over 13,000 sq feet and is located in the Electronics City. The company does not give out India specific numbers but said it had added 150 new engineers in its India centre last year.
According to Frank Jourdan, President of the Chassis & Safety Division and a Board member of Continental, there is an increased usage of technology inside a vehicle which is spurring R&D in newer areas.
One of the reasons Continental has chosen to house its R&D arm in Bengaluru is due to the availability of talent.
“This talent is strategic to our growth — both globally and in Asia,” said Helmut Matschi, President of the Interior Division and a Board member of Continental. Officials said 70 per cent of the engineers will work in the embedded software segment, which goes into different kinds of automotive vehicles.
Bullish on prospectsContinental has 23,000 employees working in its R&D departments spread globally and has 10,000 software engineers. While the company did not divulge its manufacturing plans in the country, Matschi said that Continental is ‘excited’ at the prospect of growing in the Indian automotive market.
Other large manufacturing multinationals such as GE, UTC Aerospace Systems and others have set up their R&D arms in Bengaluru.
R&D centres in India contributed $18.3 billion which is around one-third of the global R&D and services market, according to a last year study done by management advisory firm Zinnov.
The study added that Indian Engineering R&D services revenue will touch $38 billion by 2020.
“This is an area where India can demonstrate more innovation and this step by Continental is an affirmation of the capability of the talent pool here,” said R Chandrashekhar, President of Nasscom.
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