Rockman Industries opens UK office in Silverstone, targets US and European markets

Rockman Industries, the auto-components arm of the $5 billion Hero Group, today announced the opening of the UK office, the first outside India for its composites subsidiary, Moldex.

The office is located in Silverstone, home of Formula 1 – the pinnacle of motorsport – in the UK, and in the midst of world-leading high-performance technology and motorsport businesses. Silverstone is the hub of motorsport activities in Europe with a number of racing competitions including Formula One being held in the circuit.

According to Rockman, the new UK office will focus on expanding the carbon composites business by increasing market penetration, especially in the USA and the European markets. In January 2017, Rockman Industries acquired Moldex Composites, a British-Indian carbon-composites design and manufacturing company as a part of group’s diversification strategy.

“We expect carbon composites to account for about 10 percent of Rockmans’ revenue in the next five years. Besides motorsports and aerospace, there is a global shift towards carbon fibre in the automobiles sector. At Rockman Industries we want to be at the forefront of this technology as it further penetrates different sectors including automotives. The opening of the UK office is a step in that direction as it gives us access to the centre of motorsports in Europe,” said Suman Kant Munjal, chairman and managing director, Rockman Industries.

“We are aiming to make inroads into the global carbon composites markets. The opening of the UK office in Silverstone, the home of UK motor racing, showcases our commitment to lead this new technology sector. Our team would be targeting the European and the American markets through this office,” said Ujjwal Munjal, executive director, Rockman Industries.

Bullish on carbon composites
Globally the motorsport and aerospace industries are leading the move towards shedding weight with carbon composites playing a vital role. While weight reduction enables airplanes to carry larger payloads for longer distances while reducing emissions, it also helps motorsport vehicles to accelerate faster.

Around 30 years ago, the penetration of aluminium started to increase as a lighter option to iron and steel. The next wave has been towards carbon composites and it is now widely used by motorsports manufacturers globally. This is expected to proliferate rapidly in mass produced vehicles in the automotive sector as manufacturing technologies evolve, which will be the inflection point of growth of composites.

Also read: 
Interview with Ujjwal Munjal, executive director, Rockman Industries