Norma Group enters India

Norma Group, global market and technology leader in clamps, connectors, retainers, and complete fluid systems for automotive and industrial applications, opened its new plant at Talegaon near Pune last fortnight.

Norma Group Products India Pvt Ltd, its 80:20 joint venture with Taurus Flexibles, a leading manufacturer of hoses for commercial vehicle applications, has an order book of 2.5 million euros, managing director Andrea Carta told a press conference. The company has set itself a target of Rs 80 crore by 2012. It has begun manufacturing plastic fuel lines and transmission oil cooler tube systems for cars and commercial vehicles from its NormaFlex programme, which it supplies to Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Fiat fitted with its NormaQuick quick connectors that are currently imported.

The installed capacity of 500,000 fuel systems a year could possibly be doubled in the short term, Carta said. Equipment to manufacture 40 million worm-drive hose clips from its NormaClamp range for charge air and exhaust systems will be added by the end of 2009.

Using Norma clamps would totally eliminate the efficiency-sapping leakages that are currently tolerated by the OEMs because of the lack of available products that meet the severest of operating conditions in these applications, Bernd Kleinhens, managing director of the commercial and passenger vehicles business unit, told Autocar Professional.

Having met with significant success with the Indian carmakers it approached first, Norma has now turned its attention to GM and Ford, and plans to approach the commercial vehicle OEMs with an offer to co-develop exhaust system clamps and connectors. In only the past six months it has engaged in 60 development projects with five OEMs and 10 Tier-1s, Carta said.

With a potential share of 10 euros per midsize car for BS4 and a market of two million, Kleinhens estimates revenues of 20 million euros from this segment alone, which would amount to a market share of 50 percent or higher. With trucks the potential is 100 euros per vehicle, he said.