Samvardhana Motherson eyes demand from off-highway vehicles, acquires cabin-making JV

Samvardhana Motherson International (SAMIL) has acquired the remaining 50% stake of Fritzmeier Motherson Cabin Engineering from F Holdings GmbH, Austria for Rs 110.7 crore. Following completion of the transaction, Fritzmeier Motherson Cabin Engineering will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

The business is housed under the Precision Metals and Modules division, which is a part of SAMIL’s   emerging businesses vertical. Fritzmeier Motherson Cabin Engineering, which has a plant in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu, is engaged in development, manufacture and sale of operator cabins, cover assemblies and fabrications for various off-highway applications.

The company manufactures operator cabins for off-highway machines like heavy-duty dump-trucks, excavators, dozers, backhoe loaders, wheel loaders and agricultural tractor cabins both for the domestic and export markets. The operator cabin is a high-level module consisting of over 1000 sub-assemblies including base structure, instrument panel, doors assembly, HVAC system and steering column.

Fritzmeier Motherson’s expertise lies in manufacturing cabins through cutting edge technology adopted to meet high levels of international safety requirements like ROPS (Roll Over Protective Structure) and FOPS (Fall Over Protective Structure).

The off-highway vehicles industry in India, which caters to the agricultural and construction segments, is poised for significant growth. On a nine-month FY2023 annualised basis, the target business revenue has grown by around 70% year on year, which is why Samvardhana Motherson is bullish on this sector.

Fritzmeier Motherson Cabin’s turnover for nine months ended December 31, 2022 was Rs 144.4 crore. The company’s turnover in FY2022 was Rs 113.4 crore.