The Hindu : Business : Ashok Leyland forays into automotive electronic space

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 17, 2007
ePaper

Business

Business

Ashok Leyland forays into automotive electronic space

Special Correspondent

Forms venture with Siemens VDO Automotive

To design, develop ‘infotronics’ products
Will leverage ALL’s production facilities

CHENNAI: Continuing its foray into adjacencies, commercial vehicle maker Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) of the Hinduja Group has announced the formation of one more joint venture, signalling its entry into the automotive electronic technology product space. It has just initialled an equal joint venture agreement with Siemens VDO Automotive AG of Germany to design, develop and adapt ‘infotronics’ products and services for the transportation sector.

The joint venture company will have its headquarters in Chennai. According to R. Seshasayee, Managing Director of Ashok Leyland, the joint venture will be a design, development and marketing company. It will leverage the production facilities in the country to make its products, he added.

Only a few days ago, Ashok Leyland penned a pact with Alteams Group of Finland to float a yet-to-be-named equal joint venture to make high pressure die-casting (HPDC) aluminium products to serve the growing needs of automotive and telecom sectors.

Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Seshasayee listed a few factors that could drive automotive electronics in the coming days. The regulatory requirements vis-À-vis compliance on safety aspects, the need to catch up with the West in terms of legislation and the concern for operating efficiency, all offered huge scope.

The joint venture would develop electronic components and software such as instrument cluster applications, cockpit electronics and various control units for both commercial vehicles and passenger cars, said a release from the company. According to Christoph Maximillian Eisenhardt, CEO (Global Commercial Vehicle Business) of Siemens VDO, 90 per cent of innovation in automotive electronics had been happening in the transportation space.

The two companies have been working closely as consortium members in the Chennai Metropolitan Bus Terminal project to provide state-of-the-art telematics solutions for the Tamil Nadu State Transport undertaking.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business