Eberspaecher Suetrak Bus Climate Control Systems India Pvt. Ltd. inaugurated its manufacturing facility for bus air-conditioning systems in India at Bangalore. The new plant was inaugurated by Dr. Leonhard Vilser, CEO Eberspaecher vehicle heaters, in the presence of Mr. Joachim Tosstorff, General Manager Eberspaecher Suetrak.Eberspaecher Suetrak’s Indian facility is built for an annual production capacity of a couple of thousand bus air conditioning units. The new plant will manufacture roof AC units as well as split AC units on an area of around 2,800 square metres, offering Indian customers a full range of bus air-conditioning systems. This new facility in Southern India is of strategic importance for the company, India being one of the world’s fasting growing markets for bus AC systems. The company has set a target to sell more than 1000 units during the current year 2011.
“Our products make us leaders in the market for bus climate control systems in India. Our objective is to steadily grow our market share in India over the coming years,” explains Joachim Tosstorff, General Manager of Eberspaecher Suetrak.
The new facility will house the administration and production department and will provide a local source of supply to meet the demand for bus climate control systems in the rapidly expanding Indian market. Eberspaecher Suetrak India will also handle the complete service, repairs, technical support and training for customers.Mr. Tosstorff said: “We are very confident that India will be one of the major markets in the world for bus air conditioning systems. There is a growing middle class and there is going to be much more demand for thermal management. We have a local management team with local customers. We are very confident that this is the road to success for the future”.
The Indian operations will be supported by Eberspaecher Suetrak’s German head quarters in Renningen. The German HQ has worked closely together with its Indian team right from the planning stage, and has supported them in both the process as a whole and in the transfer of knowledge for the new production site.
Currently the company is importing most of the critical components with plans to localize components which adhere to the global quality standards of Eberspaecher. The current localization level is at 25%.
In June 2010 the Eberspaecher Group acquired the Indian bus AC business from Carrier Corp. (USA). The move positions Eberspaecher Suetrak as a one-stop shop for heating and cooling in the Indian bus market.Eberspaecher Suetrak is also planning to use India as a base for exports to other nearby markets. “Our production facility in India is designed to cater not only to the local market but also other nearby countries. Firstly we see the tendency of Indian bus manufacturers starting to export buses to other countries. We would like to supply our products to them and we also see an opportunity for exporting from India to other countries”, Mr. Tosstorff added.
Eberspaecher ranks amongst the leading system developers and suppliers of exhaust technology, vehicle heating and bus air conditioning systems worldwide and is also involved in vehicle electronics and automotive bus systems for electronic networking in the vehicles. Its customers include almost all European and North American, and increasingly more Asian manufacturers of passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
