Austrian seatbelt maker Fasching Salzburg to set up plant in India

Fasching Salzburg GmbH, the Austria-based safety belt manufacturer, is actively considering setting up a manufacturing in plant in India to make seatbelts for commercial vehicles and niche vehicles including coaches and buses.

The company has been supplying its seatbelts for 4-5 years to Indian customers through imports from its European plant. Taking steps to become logistically closer to its clients in India, the company is exploring setting up a manufacturing footprint in India along with a local partner by 2018. At present, the company manufactures its products only at its Austria plant and India will become its second manufacturing location.

Talking to Autocar Professional at the recently concluded BusWorld India expo in Bangalore, Herald Pessi, sales director, Fasching Salzburg, said, “We are interested in localisation in the Indian market and are finalising our talks with potential partners. An agreement in this regard will be finalised latest by January 2017 and the manufacturing will start latest by 2018. We will localise every product and make the complete assembly of seatbelts.”

Talking about the possible tie-up with Indian partners, Pessi said it is necessary to have local people to understand product requirements and bring the right product to customers and also offer the best service.

Wide product portfolio

The company makes all types of seatbelts including static belts, two-point belts with automatic locking, emergency locking, three-point belts with different technologies, wheelchair restraint systems, special belts for fire trucks, ambulances and military vehicles.

Fasching's global product portfolio includes automatic locking retractors, emergency locking retractors, two-point belt systems, three-point belt system, buckles, and special solutions like H-belts, bicycle tethers, fall protection belts, YoYo belts and five-point belt systems.

At present, Fasching Salzburg supplies seatbelts for coaches to key OEMs in Europe and has a near-50% market share in the niche segment. It has a 20-40% share in the niche segment in the USA and an 85% market share in Mexico.

Commenting on the opportunity in the Indian market for seatbelts, Pessi said, “We know the potential of the market and are convinced that India is the market for the future. Over the past four years, we have had a number of customers in India including Harita Seating Systems, Pinnacle Industries and Scania Commercial Vehicles India. We have been receiving encouraging response from various other Indian customers too.”

It is understood that the company’s focus in India will remain the niche market including coaches, intercity buses and agricultural vehicles like tractors and special equipment like ambulances and fire trucks.

Talking about the company’s strengths, Pessi said, “We are very competitive with our prices with all the tools and technology and are aggressive in terms of new technologies – this is our strength. Our focus is to be competitive in the niche markets and to grow further, looking at tapping opportunities in new markets.”