By Admin 
Valeo Investment in India: Valeo, a French company that supplies automotive parts, is ready to make a big bet in India. The company on Wednesday made a big announcement of its investment of 200 million euros (Rs 2147 crore) in India in the next three years. In fact, Valeo wants to increase its sales more than three times to 700 million euros by the year 2028 and for this this investment is necessary now.
Plan to expand business in India
India’s share in Valeo’s global sales is currently 1 percent. In such a situation, to further expand its India business, this French auto component manufacturing company wants to take advantage of the increasing demand for electric vehicles equipped with various features. Speaking to reporters at a press briefing, Valeo CEO Christophe Périllat said, “We see a lot of extra content and technology in the cars sold in India. This is why we are fully prepared to move forward in India.
He further said, “India is the fastest growing automotive market in the world. It is not just a matter of volume, but the pattern of cars sold here is also changing rapidly. More than 60 percent of the new orders are SUVs.
The company has a strong plan ahead
India is a special area of growth for Valeo. The company’s CEO further says, “We are planning to almost triple our sales in India from 220 million Euros to 700 million Euros by 2028 and be ready for the next step of rapid growth after 2028.” He said that the company is going to target sales of 1 billion Euros after 2028.
Valeo currently supplies electric powertrains to Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M)’s BE 6 and XEV 9e electric vehicles. The auto parts supplied by the company include e-axle, battery cooling plate, charger, inverter, sensor, lighting equipment and ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance System) etc.
Company’s focus on localization
Valeo is actually looking to invest in India especially focusing on electrification and ADAS division. Interestingly, this investment is happening at a time when about 4 percent of all new cars sold in India are electric vehicles. Perillat believes that the technology content of cars is growing rapidly in the Indian market.
Perillat said, we are localizing the electric motor and power electronics. Localizing battery cooling. For ADAS, we are localizing sensors, cameras and radar etc. He said, “We hope that by 2032 the share of EV and hybrid in India will be 25 percent.”
Valeo entered the Indian market in 1997. The company has six production units in Chennai, Pune, Sanand and Gurugram. Apart from this, there are also Global R&D centers in Chennai and Bengaluru. Valeo employs more than 7500 people in India, of which more than 50 percent are engineers involved in global research, development and manufacturing activities. To support the growing demand for Mahindra & Mahindra EVs, Valeo has also commissioned a new plant and dedicated e-axle production lines at its Pune facility.
Also read:
Now the reach of AI will increase further, Microsoft will invest 50 billion dollars by the end of the decade