York Transport Equipment India Pvt Limited, the Indian entity of the York Group of Companies, has opened a new manufacturing facility in Talegaon, India, to strengthen the group’s presence in the Indian market. According to York, the new plant is the largest manufacturing unit for trailer axles in India.
York has penned the Indian subcontinent as its centre of future expansion, with significant investments planned in manufacturing and R&D. Therefore, the company invested Rs. 20 crores (€ 3.13 Million) in the new facility, which will offer a capacity to manufacture 100,000 axles per annum.
Spreading over 11,150m2, including a covered space of 6500m2, York plans to produce axles and suspensions at the Pune plant. Previously those were imported into India in assembled condition.
The Talegaon facility will have two assembly lines and a separate area reserved for the assembly of special products – such as air suspension and bogie suspension. It will produce complete axles from scratch – including pressing, welding, washing, assembly, and painting. Most components will be sourced locally.
Mr GS Chatterjee, COO of York India, is confident that the Pune facility will cater to the entire Indian market by the end of the third quarter of the 2011–12 financial year. After that, plans are evolving to supply neighbouring markets in the Middle East and Africa.
Like the rest of the Indian economy, the trailer industry in India is on the verge of exponential growth. In 2010– 11, nearly 25,000 tractor units were sold in India. According to York, the market size for trailer axles in India will be around 75,000 units annually and is expected to double by 2015. York currently has a 22 per cent market share in the trailer axle business, but with a strong commitment to growth the ambitious target is to increase this share to 30 per cent by the end of 2011.