French tier 1 supplier Valeo has announced its ambitious plans for India, with the expansion of its operations in Tamil Nadu.
The expansion encompasses manufacturing facilities, aftermarket operations, and a global technical centre where Valeo plans to increase its talent pool by 3,000 in the Chennai region in the next 5-years.
The company says its plans for India include the following:
Manufacturing & Aftermarket: Valeo will increase its workforce at its production facilities in Tamil Nadu both for expansion of its current product portfolio as well as new technologies. Its aftermarket operations will witness substantial growth through expanded distribution networks and service centres in Tamil Nadu. This expansion aims to provide enhanced accessibility to its top-tier automotive products and services, catering to the needs of a wider customer base across the region.
Global Technical Center: The cutting-edge Global Technical Center in Chennai serves as a hub for research, development and innovation and brings together over 3,700 top engineering talent from across India. It is expanding rapidly to meet its growth plans especially in the Electronics and Software domains. Over the last few years Valeo has increased its investment significantly in establishing state-of-the-art labs and protoshops and this centre now has world-class lab facilities for Automotive Test and Validation. R&D engineers from India have contributed to more than 365 patent first filings to date and the number continues to grow.
In 2020, Valeo launched a fully integrated compact 48V electric powertrain system to aid affordable electrification for small mobility vehicles like two- and three-wheelers that are extensively used for first-and-last-mile connectivity in India. More recently, the Group has been chosen by Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), India’s leading SUV manufacturer to provide the electric powertrain for a certain range of the ‘Born Electric’ passenger vehicle platform and on-board charger combo for their electric utility vehicles.
With R&D centres in Chennai and Bangalore, Valeo is a key player for providing ADAS solutions to tier 1 automotive OEMs across the globe. The innovative solutions in graphics 3D visualisation has been recognised by tier-1 OEM’s as the world’s best quality visualisation solution as on date. In particular, more than 200 engineers (with 19 Valeo experts, 13 PhD and Masters from top universities) support the Group’s global effort to build advanced perception solutions for driving and parking functions.
Jayakumar G, Group President & MD, Valeo India said, “We have been in the state of Tamil Nadu for over 25 years and expanded our diverse product portfolios in manufacturing. Also, in the last 15 years we have established a Global Tech Center for our R&D and software activities, which is testament to the talent available in Chennai. We further plan to expand our operations and R&D in the upcoming years.”
In India, Valeo started its footprint in 1997 in Chennai for manufacturing clutch and friction facing materials. It established its first R&D Centre in Chennai in 2005 for powertrain systems, then went on to expand with lighting division, thermal systems, wiper division, vision systems software division and Valeo service.
