AMP gets Logan mandate

These are heady times for Anand Motor Products (AMP), India’s leading manufacturer of anti-vibration parts. Barely a few days after signing a technical agreement with Paulstra of France, the Gurgaon-based company is expecting to reap rich dividends as it gears up to supply products to Mahindra-Renault’s Logan that is scheduled to debut in the coming months.

Paulstra SNC’s senior vice-president, Thierry du Granrut told this writer: “AMP is a fast growing and aggressive company. Paulstra supplies anti-vibration parts for the Logan in Romania and will license AMP to produce and support this part to the Logan in India.”

INDIA BECKONS

Paulstra, he added, has developed state-of-the-art products globally and will help AMP supply these innovative products in the anti-vibration field. “We can support AMP with innovative designs to meet customer needs in terms of costs and quality,” he said. With the Paulstra tie-up, AMP will now be able to get more customers in the local industry. According to Du Granrut, the company does not have much business in India right now but has been asked by its customers like Renault, Ford and GM to supply parts worldwide including India.

“After this technical tie-up with AMP, our exposure to India will increase,” he said. AMP has been doing contract manufacturing for Paulstra for the last two years. Their products go to OEMs in the US. “We entered into this partnership with AMP because we need to support OEMs worldwide. India is going to be an important part of our global strategy as it is on course to becoming a major player in the automotive industry,” he added.

Paulstra’s income from anti-vibration parts for cars is around $500 million. It makes products for non-automotive sectors too. It is the leader in elastomer technology with five technical centres and 10 plants globally. Paulstra is part of the 2.9 billion Euro Hutchinson group which has 124 plants across the world. Hutchinson, in turn, is a world market leader in rubber products on each of its three markets---automotive, industry and consumer products--- and is part of the chemical branch of the Total group with sales of 143 billion Euros.

“In Europe and America, since anti-vibration parts are part of the chassis and body, our involvement with OEMs begins very early in the design of the vehicle,” Du Granrut stated. Major products made by Paulstra include engine mounts, hydraulic engine mounts, active and switchable mounts, hydraulic bushes, suspension bushes, exhaust hangers, body mounts, cradle mounts, strut mounts, mass dampers and steering couplings.

OVERSEAS MARKETS

AMP is also setting up two plants to make automotive anti-vibration parts at a cost of Rs 20 crore to cater to two vehicle manufacturers, one of who is Mahindra-Renault. It also plans to have its own warehouses in the US and Europe.

AMP’s products are used in North America on International Trucks, Freightliner, Kenworth, Peterbilt and Mack. On passenger cars it is used on Ford and GM. In Europe its products are used on heavy-duty platforms of Volvo and Scania while in cars, it caters to Fiat and PSA. They are also distributed by top brands in North America and Europe and retailed through chains like AutoZone, Pepboys and O’Reilly.