Knorr-Bremse India aims for 8-fold growth by 2020

Knorr-Bremse India, the local arm of the Munich-based 5.8 billion euro Knorr-Bremse Group, has an aggressive growth plan, within which it aims to grow eight-fold over the next five years.

The company, which caters to the railway and commercial vehicle (CV) industries, posted a global turnover of 2.49 billion euro under its CV business. Its CV business, which manufactures and supplies braking systems, dampers, compressors, valves, disc and drum brakes, actuators, air treatment systems and tools and diagnostics, employed more than 9,000 employees worldwide as per the 2015 data.

According to S Krishnan Yogi, managing director, Knorr-Bremse India, the company plans to grow by more than 40 percent CAGR in the coming years and aims to sustain the growth on the back of new products, business orders, opportunities, internal efficiencies and revised strategies.

“We are looking at bringing many new products in line with the advanced electronic systems as required under the latest regulations. Introducing new products will also boost our market share in the respective space. Considering our growing product portfolio and new product development, we have aligned appropriate investments for the same as well as for expansion of our production capabilities. Under our five-year growth plan, we are aiming at an eight-fold growth over our current turnover,” he said.

According to Yogi, recently introduced internal changes have led to greater efficiencies at work without investments, and this has supported in terms of additional supplies. “This has also boosted the confidence of our customers, which in turn has resulted in increasing the share of existing businesses,” he said. The company, which is also open for inorganic growth via making new acquisitions, has registered strong demand for anti-lock braking systems from the buses and trucking industry.

The company is also investing in enhancing its research and engineering capabilities along with its supplier support teams. According to the company, this has resulted into growth in its monthly production output.

Knorr-Bremse’s India unit was incorporated in February 2003 and it started its commercial operations in August 2005 with a manufacturing facility in Pune. The company’s commercial vehicle arm also has a state-of-the-art product testing and validation facility meant for in-house testing.

The company also has a technology centre known as Knorr-Bremse Technology Centre India (KBTCI), which is a dedicated to the research and engineering requirements of the Group. The facility is located alongside the production plant for commercial vehicle products in Pune. 

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