Freudenberg Group targets 10 percent growth in India this year

The Freudenberg Group, the Germany-based auto component supplier, has recorded a turnover of Rs 1,128 crore in 2013 in India, up 1.26 percent from the Rs 1,114 crore it reported in 2012. The Group, which has 11 different entities with 3,500 associates at 32 locations in India, produces seals, lubrication products, release agents, filters and vibration-controlling materials.

Addressing a media conference in Bangalore today, Dr Jorg Matthias Grossmann, chief financial officer of Freudenberg Chemical Specialties and Regional Representative India of the Freudenberg Group, said the company’s revenue from India has been increasing every year.

According to Grossmann, around 40-45 percent of revenues last year came from the automotive industry, the bulk of them from supplies to OEMs in India and the balance from the aftermarket. Although there is a slowdown in the Indian economy, he said the company sees India as its one of the prominent markets in longer term globally.

“We are investing steadily in this key market to which we are committed in the long-term. The solid development of Freudenberg Group companies in India will have a sustainable positive impact on the entire group in the long run,” he added.

This year (2014), he said, the company expects to clock growth of 10 percent in turnover with a good chunk from the auto industry. “From 2015 onwards, we are expecting 15 percent growth in India,” he added.

Freudenberg’s major investment in India is the production plant in Mysore in Karnataka, which is operated by Kluber Lubrication and Chem-Trend. It has 110 employees producing lubricants, releasing agents and chemo-technical maintenance products for use in the automotive, energy and food industries. With a total investment of Rs 135 crore, the Mysore site will become a major technical centre of excellence for customers in Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim, he added.

The company’s global revenue stood at Rs 52,000 crore in 2013, of which Asia contributed around 18 percent. Apart from the auto industry, the company also manufactures products for other industries like energy, chemical, medical, textile, mechanical and plant engineering.