Made-in-India cars for the world

Call it the Nano engineering gold rush. Indian engineering skills are suddenly hot property as global auto companies source competence, along with components, for their next-gen models. Sourcing cheaper components to cut costs for cars sold in India and globally is now de rigeur.

The second wave of sourcing focuses on skills, particularly in small cars where India has a core competence. As world markets move to smaller and less fuel-hungry vehicles, Big Auto is looking to India for scale and expertise. Maruti Suzuki’s soon-to-debut A-Star has some Indian content, which was played up alongside the Nano’s global outing at the Geneva Motor Show this March. But now Suzuki is planning to step on the gas, outsourcing its costly model development to India for the next-gen small cars.

“These cars will be developed in India and made in India for the world,” said a Maruti official. “By 2012, that line-up should start rolling out.” Suzuki is focussing on R&D in a big way in India to crank up its engineering pool for the purpose.

 India will be the small car hub not just in terms of manufacturing but also in terms of product development, the ultimate holy grail in Motown. Other global car majors like Hyundai, Honda and GM are working on both ends of this trend-developing small car models that will be accepted in India and other similar markets and using India as a sourcing hub for parts and skills.

Hyundai, which like Maruti has a big local footprint in manufacturing, is now focussing on R&D in India. The Korean company has set up a $40 million computer-aided design centre in Hyderabad. Says Hyundai Motor India chief HS Lheem: “Our future launches, especially for the compact segment, are being developed keeping in mind the potential of the Indian market.”

For GM, the $60-million technical centre in Bangalore will be its powerhouse for developing future technologies and shaping new cars. “We have lined up a design centre, engineering services and an R&D facility at Bangalore. It will conceive future products for India and other emerging markets,” said GM India vice-president P Balendran.

Courtesy :- Economic Times

Over 30,000 US citizens employed in India: study

Amidst the row in US over outsourcing, a study has said that firms like Essar, HCL, Tata, Mahindra and Wipro have generated over 30,000 jobs for US citizens in recent years.

Tata Group alone employs 19,000 Americans and has invested over 3 billion dollars, besides operating 16 businesses in US, a report by US-India Business Council (USIBC) and industry body FICCI said.

Indian employers and their American workers contribute billions of dollars to the Federal, state and local treasuries by way of wages, corporate taxes, payroll taxes and income taxes, the study said.

About 12 Indian companies, including Essel-Propack, ITC Kitchens of India, Ranbaxy, Satyam and Wockhardt, are making a sizable impact on US economy, the chamber said.

With a presence in nearly a dozen states like Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, New York and Texas, Essar’s American operations generated more than 110 million dollars in revenues last year and has employed about 7,200 people till now, which would increase to 8,500 by next year.

While Jet Airways has purchased 72 aircraft from Boeing and with 120 direct employees, the company, which has offices in New York, New Jersey and California, has paid 36 million dollars to the US market in total wages, taxes, and fees to airports.

India’s first pharma MNC, Ranbaxy, which is to be taken by Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo, has created 600 jobs and produced 142 drugs, the report added.

In the IT sector, while Satyam employs 5,000 Americans, Wipro Technologies has created more than 8,000 jobs and 1,000 new jobs are coming to Georgia and Michigan cities.

HCL Technologies has helped to develop safety and navigation equipment for Boeing’s new 787 ‘Dreamliner’ jet aircraft. In America, since 1989, HCL employs 3,000 in 21 locations and serves clients in 200 cities, it added.

Courtesy :- NDTV