BASF has made plans to expand its offerings for the automotive industry in India with investments in plants and technology. The company will build a new engineering plastics compounding plant at its existing site in Thane, which is expected to come on stream by the second half of 2009.
BASF has also set up a computer aided engineering (CAE) lab in Thane where its engineers design and optimize new engineering plastic parts in close cooperation with customers.
In addition, BASF Coatings commissioned a new refinish color lab at Mangalore in February 2008, and is expanding its e-coat facility, which is expected to be completed by end of 2008. Also underway is the expansion of BASF’s catalyst plant in Chennai. The plant will triple its capacity by 2009.
“Automotive is one of BASF’s most important target industry segments and our second-largest source of sales after the chemical industry,” said Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, president market and business development Asia Pacific. “In 2007, BASF derived over 13% of its total global sales of €58 billion from sales to the automotive industry.”
“Production figures show that Asia is the fastest growing region in the global automotive industry, with car production increasing by eight percent last year; in India it has been growing at an average of 15% per year over the last few years. Innovations in the automotive industry are increasingly being driven by Asian companies, and BASF supports this trend,” said Prasad Chandran, chairman BASF Group in India and head South Asia.