Keen on making most of the “big opportunity” for its emission control products in the commercial vehicle segment, automobile component manufacturer Tenneco Automotive India Pvt. Ltd has started work on the prototypes.
The company, a subsidiary of Tenneco of the U.S., is in discussions with prospective customers, including the Tatas and Ashok Leyland.
“We are looking at on-road vehicles (goods carriers of various tonnages), off-road vehicles such as tractors and earthmovers and for stationary applications (gensets),” Tenneco Automotive India Managing Director Abhijit Mukherjee said here on Tuesday.
He told presspersons that the company's decision to enter the commercial vehicle segment was fuelled by the need to be ready with a complete suite of products to meet the requirements of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Many of the OEMs are customers of Tenneco globally such as Daimler and Caterpillar — they have also set up facilities in India. With vehicular emission regulations in developed markets set to be followed in the rest of the world, the company wants to be ready with the products.
Describing it as a “growth area”, Mr. Mukherjee said the company was well positioned to meet the demands of the OEMs. The basic research and development is done at Tenneco facilities in Michigan, Shanghai and in Edenkoben, Germany.
Tenneco, which, in India, manufactures emission control products, essentially for light vehicles now, at its plant in Orgadam, near Chennai, plans to produce the range for commercial vehicles there and its upcoming facility in Chakkan. “We would be setting up separate lines (for commercial vehicles),” he said.
