Chennai, India- : Mecaplast Group, a 570 million Euro manufacturer of automobile equipment today announced the launch of its first production facility in India at Mahindra World City, Chennai. The factory, spread across 5 acres has invested nearly 300 million INR for its initial setup to manufacture a wide range of plastic engine and body parts for both local and international customers that includes Ford, Renault-Nissan, General Motors, Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, Peugeot, Mercedes-Benz, Fiat, Volvo etc.
Set up at the DTA (Domestic Tariff Area) of Mahindra World City, the Mecaplast Group has its roots in Monaco, Europe where it was founded in 1955 by Mr Charles MANNI. The group designs, develops and manufactures parts and complete systems for vehicle Body and Engine. Mecaplast is a leading provider of the engine technologies, which aid automobile manufacturers to adhere to globally accepted environment norms (Euro IV & Euro V). The Company also holds several design patents in their field.
Today, the company boasts of over 5800 employees based across 14 countries across the world including 26 Production sites, 11 technical centres, state of the art testing centres and 2 skill centres which serve automotive markets across the world.
The Mecaplast facility at Mahindra World City, Chennai currently houses 40 employees. The production plant would primarily manufacture automotive plastic engine parts, Exterior and Interior parts namely: Engine air intake systems, coverings and shields, interior and exterior trims, cowl grills, fender liners and other plastic parts.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Thierry Manni, Chairman of the MECAPLAST Group said, “The MECAPLAST Group is delighted to set up its first production facility in India. The Indian market holds great promise and we are quite certain that our products & technologies will be well accepted.. Moreover, India is renowned for its skilled manpower, low cost of innovation and its design and development skills, factors which will help us in establishing base in the country.”
On the production unit at Mahindra World City, Mr. B.S. Rao, Country Head and Director, India Operations, the MECAPLAST Group, said, “We got our First business from Ford India in Feb, 2008 to localize their DV4 engine plastic parts. Almost at the same time Renault Nissan confirmed their operations in Chennai. This makes our decision easy to choose Chennai to put our first manufacturing plant. Now we have a state of the art Manufacturing facility and well motivated team to serve our customers. Mahindra World City, Chennai proved to be an ideal foil as it is situated in close proximity to the Chennai Automotive Belt. Additionally, the township offers excellent infrastructure, easy connectivity to rail and roadways that are important to a multinational company like ours.”
On the set up of Mecaplast Ms. Sangeeta Prasad, Chief Operating Officer, Mahindra World City-Chennai said, “I am delighted to welcome the Mecaplast Group to Mahindra World City. We reaffirm our commitment in providing an enabling environment to Mecaplast and wish them enduring success in this facility and an enriching experience in India.”
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