Automotive interior components supplier International Automotive Components (IAC) has opened a new regional and global engineering centre in Pune.

The 2,415-square-metre facility officially opened today and will focus on application development engineering to support the vehicle interior needs of domestic and global customer programs. This opening increases IAC’s presence in India to six locations throughout the country and 28 design, technical, and commercial centers around the world.

“The newest IAC facility in Pune will further enhance our global integrated engineering solutions focused on the development of exceptional automotive interiors,” said IAC senior vice-president of Asia Operations, Gajanan Gandhe.

The dedicated engineering facility, which has 150 staffers, will provide design engineering and application development support to domestic vehicle manufacturing programs for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), such as Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors, as well as to IAC locations worldwide.

The facility opening frees up approximately 650 square metres of space at IAC’s existing Chakan II, India facility, which will be repurposed to expand its manufacturing operations providing additional production capacity and product offerings.

“IAC’s efforts in India align with our global strategy of providing customers with the regional program support needed, but also allows our North American, European and Asian engineering teams to work around the clock on customer projects,” said IAC chief operating officer Terry Gohl during the facility’s ribbon cutting event.

Over the past year, IAC has executed steady growth around the world. In addition to the new engineering facility in Pune, IAC broke ground on a manufacturing plant in Poland in February 2017, began production at a new Czech Republic plant in July 2016, and entered the South American market with a new plant in Brazil in June 2016.