Rane opens new facility in Mexico for steering components
The new facility will address the large and growing market for inner and outer ball joints in North American market.
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CHENNAI: Rane (Madras) has set up a greenfield facility for manufacturing steering and suspension components for passenger vehicle application through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rane Automotive Components Mexico (RACM), in Aguascalientes, Mexico.
The first business for this facility is an order for supply of inner and outer ball joints to a leading automotive tier-1 for an upcoming electric vehicle platform of a leading American OEM. The program is slated for launch in 2025 with a peak annual sales value of Rs 80 crore.
The company selected Aguascalientes due to its strategic location in the heart of Mexico. One of 5 states that make up the Bajio region in Central Mexico, it is home to large OEMs like Nissan and several top tier-1 automotive suppliers.
The new facility will address the large and growing market for inner and outer ball joints in North American market.RML currently supplies inner and outer ball joints from its Indian facilities, to several global locations including Mexico, China and Central Europe.
There will be an initial investment of $3 million going up to $6 million in the Mexican subsidiary over the next 12 to 18 months. RACM has a further Rs 250 crores of opportunities under discussion for the North American market for vehicle platforms of various OEMs like Ford, GM and Honda.
Harish Lakshman, vice chairman, Rane Group, said, “The establishment of this greenfield facility is aligned to our aspiration of growing the share of international revenues.”