Harman to start operations at Chakan plant this month

Harman, a premium audio and infotainment solutions company is all set to commence the production operations at its Chakan facility. According to sources closely associated with the development, the company is expected to start manufacturing the passenger vehicle-specific audio systems by mid-November 2014.

It can be recalled that nearly two years back, Harman, a US-based company (2013 net sales: USD 4.3 billion), had announced its plans of investing USD 10 million in the first phase to setup a production plant in Chakan. The planned production plant, which is expected to have an annual production capacity of 400,000 car sets, will tap the OEMs based in and around the Pune automotive belt.

Sources say that the company has been working to develop a local vendor base to enable sourcing of crucial parts as it intends to bring down the prices of its premium car audio and navigation systems.

Harman designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of audio and infotainment solutions for the automotive, consumer and professional markets. Known as the world’s largest car audio and infotainment systems manufacturer, with largest global audio research and development team, the products of this company are equipped in more than 20 million cars, which include four out of five luxury vehicles globally.

The company, which claims that each of its branded automotive audio system is uniquely engineered and customer-tailored to the individual model’s interior acoustics, is said to have joined hands with Tata Motors for supply of tailor made products. Globally, the company has 15 leading brands including AKG, Harman Kardon, Infinity, JBL, Lexicon and Mark Levinson.

Harman’s audio and infotainment systems can be found in Land Rover, Hyundai, Ferrari, Chrysler, Dodge, Peugeot, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, MINI, Citroen, SsangYong and many others. According to the company’s 2013 annual report, it had launched major global infotainment platforms for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Audi, Harley-Davidson and Toyota last year.

Harman International India, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harman International Industries, was legally incorporated in 2009 as an R&D centre to support company’s global businesses. Headquartered in Bangalore, the local unit has setup two large development centres based in Pune and Bangalore.