Meritor, Inc. (NYSE: MTOR) is growing its manufacturing footprint in India by 25 percent with a $36.5 million axle assembly facility at Automotive Axles, its joint venture with Kalyani Group in Mysore, India.
Meritor, the Troy, Michigan-based maker of drivetrain, mobility, braking and aftermarket components for commercial vehicle and industrial markets, also is opening a research and development center in Mysore.
“As our global business continues to grow, the new facilities in India will support our market-leading positions,” said Jay Craig, Meritor’s CEO and president. “They are strong assets that will position us for future growth in the region.”
Localized research and development also allows Meritor to tap abundant local engineering talent in India, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst at Navigant Research. The research and development center will focus on end-to-end testing and validation of Meritor’s domestic and global products.
“They can get engineers at a much lower cost than they can here in the U.S. and they can get a lot of them,” Abuelsamid said.
The new assembly facility will serve customers in the commercial vehicle, off-highway and defense sectors.
Meritor’s joint ventures with the Kalyani Group include:
- Meritor Heavy Vehicle Systems (India) Ltd. builds drivetrain solutions for heavy commercial, military and off-highway applications.
- Automotive Axles Ltd. makes drive and non-drive axles, front steer axles, specialty and defense axles as well as drum and disc brakes.
Meritor India has expanded into Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The company has manufacturing facilities in Mysore, Jamshedpur, Hosur and Pantnagar, as well as engineering centers in Bengaluru and Mysore. An aftermarket distribution center in Pune supplies more than 120 authorized distributors that sell Meritor aftermarket parts in India.