Magneti Marelli, the component arm of Italian carmaker Fiat SpA, is increasing its investments and level of commitment in India. As part of this expansion, it is setting up a new plant for lighting at Sanand in Gujarat to meet the requirements of two important customers – Maruti Suzuki and Ford India – which are in the process of establishing their manufacturing footprint in the state.

“This is the first time that we are entering Gujarat as Magneti Marelli does not have a presence in the state so far. We will cater to carmakers who are establishing their plants there for instance Maruti Suzuki, and also Ford which will have a significant four-wheeler presence in the state,” Saju Mookken, country manager of Magneti Marelli India (MMI), told Autocar Professional in an exclusive interview.

The MMI plant will be commissioned by mid-2015 with the construction currently underway. Lighting in cars, for instance, is evolving in India moving from conventional lamps to LEDs, projector headlamps, light guides and ambience lighting and the component maker visualises more investments in this area with the demand for more advanced lighting systems by the automotive industry. 

The company is building capacity and increasing its presence in the country to meet the growing demand in the passenger car market. It recently set up a Technical Centre at Manesar with a team of 350 people. Its head count will be further raised to 500 staffers by next year end to show the country’s growing importance for Magneti Marelli (MM).

MM is also a supplier of automated manual transmissions (AMTs) for Maruti Suzuki and is in the process of localising its production as the AMT kits are currently imported from Italy. The local plant that is coming up at Manesar is under construction with the first products to roll out by end-Q2 of 2015.

Mookken is optimistic that going forward the small car market encompassing A, B and entry level C-segment passenger cars would see an offtake of 30 percent plus AMTs and in some cases 40 percent, which is significantly higher than the rest of the world.