Continental Opens $55 Million Auto Electronics Plant in India

Continental AG recently opened its new automotive electronics manufacturing facility and a research and development (R&D) center at Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka. The company has set itself a target of achieving a compounded annual growth rate of 60 percent in India by 2012 and plans to boost sales in Asia to 25 percent of its aggregate global sales by 2015.

From Industrial Info News Alert

BANGALORE, India — Continental AG recently opened its new automotive electronics manufacturing facility and a research and development (R&D) center at Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka. The company has set itself a target of achieving a compounded annual growth rate of 60 percent in India by 2012 and plans to boost sales in Asia to 25 percent of its aggregate global sales by 2015.

The facility will develop and manufacture products for the three auto electronic divisions of Continental: chassis and safety, interior and power train.

Foreign aftermarket companies like Pioneer Electronics Inc. and Sony Corp. dominate the automotive entertainment segment, especially CD, DVD, and MP3 players. However, this is likely to change with major Tier I suppliers planning to manufacture original equipment fitted with audio systems. Global players like Avnet Inc. and Arrow Asia Pac Ltd., a subsidiary of Arrow Electronics continue to maintain a significant presence in the Indian market.