Force Motors inks JV with MTU Friedrichshafen for power generation engines

While Force Motors will hold 51 percent of the equity, the balance will be held by MTU.

By Autocar Professional Bureau

20 Mar 2018

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L-R: Andreas Schell, president and CEO, Rolls-Royce Power Systems and Prasan Firodia, managing director, Force Motors, at the announcement of the Joint Venture.

The Pune-based Force Motors has signed a joint venture agreement with MTU Friedrichshafen Gmbh of Germany, a subsidiary of Rolls-Royce Power Systems, Germany, for development, manufacture and marketing of engines, engines for power generation, complete power generators and engines for various applications like rail.

While Force Motors will hold 51 percent of the equity of the JV called Force MTU Power Systems, the balance will be held by MTU. The two partners are investing more than Rs 300 crore in the JV in proportion to their equity stakes.

Force MTU Power Systems will manufacture MTU's 10- and 12-cylinder Series 1600 units with power outputs from 545 to 1050hp. Series 1600 engines are particularly suitable for power generation and rail underfloor applications.

The 1600 Series engine.

Importantly, production of the 1600 Series engine is to shift from Friedrichshafen in Germany to Chakan, near Pune. The JV is targeting an annual turnover of Rs 1,000 crore "over the next few years".

On the automotive front in India, in the April 2017 to February 2018 period, Force Motors has sold a total of 2,613 utility vehicles (+8.24%), which gives it a UV market share of 0.31 percent. In commercial vehicles, the company has sold a total of 18,812 units (-7.96%), for a market share of 2.52 percent.