Taiwan’s KUS Auto to set up plant in Chennai

Taiwan-based KUS Auto, a leading global manufacturer of fuel level sensors, AdBlue / DEF sensors and tanks and gauges, is setting up a production plant in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai.

The company had set up its first office in Chennai in September 2015, which engaged in sales, marketing and administration operations. Later, it acquired a plot to set up its first manufacturing facility, which is currently under construction. The company aims to start manufacturing operations in Q1 CY2017 when it will produce AdBlue tanks for heavy commercial vehicles (HCVs).

Talking to Autocar Professional, Steven Lee, director – marketing & products application, KUS Auto (pictured above), said: “We see demand for the localisation of AdBlue tanks in India. We will begin manufacturing these at our upcoming production plant early next year. Our products will be for the HCV industry where we have Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), and Daimler as our customers in India. Currently, we are supplying them with our products from our plants based in China. Localisation will help us get more aggressive in the Indian market.”

According to Lee, who is a participant at the two-day 6th Integer Emissions Summit & AdBlue Forum India 2016 in New Delhi, the plant will have an annual production capacity of around 300,000 units of AdBlue tanks as soon as it begins operations. He, however, refused to divulge details about the investments made by the company in India.

AdBlue, also known as a high-quality urea solution, plays a critical role in SCR (selective catalyst reduction) technology, which is used to reduce emissions, primarily NOx. Industry experts say that SCR technology will go mainstream with the incoming BS VI emission norms with applications in CVs and passenger cars.

“We are also looking at venturing into the diesel-run passenger car market in India in the coming years for supplying AdBlue tanks. We are in discussion phases with several automakers in India on their future product pipeline,” Lee added.

With its products widely fitted on commercial vehicles, construction equipment, agricultural tractors across the world, KUS Auto is a supplier to Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, MAN, Scania, Iveco, Renault, John Deere and Caterpillar among others. According to the company website, it also supplies its products to a host of Chinese customers which include DongFeng, FAW, Heavy Auto, Foton, Shaanxi Auto, SANY and others.

The group belongs to Dongguan Zhengyang Electronic Mechanical Company, which was formerly known as Taiwan DAX International and set up in 1984 in Taiwan.