STUTTGART, Germany – MAHLE Filter Systems India in Chennai, a new filter production plant of the MAHLE Group, has taken up series production. The plant will supply Indian vehicle manufacturers with air filter modules.

In June 2010, a groundbreaking ceremony for the new plant took place according to Hindu tradition. The building was completed in December 2010, and the installation of production equipment and basic facilities was finalized by the end of January 2011. The factory is a two hour drive from the harbor of the metropolis of Chennai, formerly known as Madras.

In the medium-term, the facility plans to produce air filter systems, intake modules and cylinder head covers with integrated oil mist separation in the new plant. MAHLE has already received large-scale orders for these product groups and will supply automobile manufacturers in the Chennai area out of the plant. Currently, MAHLE employs 80 staff in Chennai, with plans to increase staff to approximately 150 in the medium-term. The first intake modules and air filters will be dispatched in August, the company says.

"The proximity to the vehicle manufacturers strengthens our position in the Indian market," said Prof. Dr. Heinz K. Junker, chairman of the management board of the MAHLE Group. "The new plant in Chennai will be established as competence center for injection molding. It will play a model role for the other MAHLE filter factories in India, as we do no in-house injection molding there so far, apart from overmolded air filter elements in the Gurgaon location."