Germany’s RLE to increase investments, auto R&D headcount in India

RLE India, the Indian arm of the Germany-based auto engineering solution provider RLE International, has said it will continue to make investments in India and is in the process of expanding its workforce in the country.

The RLE International Group is one of the world’s leading development, technology and consultation service providers to the global mobility industry. The company specialises in the areas of Body in White (BIW), interior, exterior, system integration, powertrain & chassis, computer aided engineering and data migration.

Talking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of a media conference in Bangalore, Robert P. Rupa, managing director & COO, RLE International, said the company has a workforce of 250 engineers in India working for various domestic and international automotive engineering projects. The current turnover of Indian operations stands at 5 million euros. “We keep investing 10 percent of our turnover in India as we see the country as a key market for our global operations.”

RLE’s Indian operations aims to achieve a turnover of 20 million euros in the next five years and the investments too will continue in the same ratio of 10 percent. Currently, the company employs around 250 engineers at its Bangalore and Chennai facilities. The headcount will be ramped up to 1,000 people by 2020 to meet rising demand for its solutions globally.

Its Indian customers include Tata Motors, BMW, Ford and General Motors, he added. Almost all of its global customers have their manufacturing facilities and R&D in India. Hence, RLE’s Indian business is expected to grow in a steady manner in coming years, he added.

Over the past decade, he said the company has strengthened its business relations with key OEMs and suppliers and is now looking to scale up its business in the country with an expectation of 30 percent year-on-year growth.

“When we initially launched in India, the aim was merely to be an offshore delivery centre catering to some of our global customers. But over the years this market has proven itself to be much more promising and it is one of the high-performing markets today catering to crème customers with quality services. For our global customers, we develop and manage commodities and total vehicle projects from design to production and are heading to become one of the markets leaders in India within the next five to eight years,” added Rupa.

According to Darren Gowland, Group vice-president, International Operations, RLE International, the company aims to become a leading player in 2-3 niche segments in India, to become one of the top 3 players in the transportation segment and to broaden its footprint into Indian market.

“Going by global standards, we have already added new service lines like automotive electronics, Body in White (BIW) and design using lightweight material to support the new needs of OEMs and suppliers and our goal is to grow further in India,” Gowland added.

The company has appointed Vijay Machigad as the new managing director, RLE India. Machigad, who earlier served as VP at Tech Mahindra and Founder Member of Engineering Services Group at Infosys, said, “We have established strategic partnerships with many global Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and established the brand as a strong player in niche areas. During the next few years, we aim to grow not only in terms of revenue but also in terms of our service portfolio, business footprint and customer relations.”