Continental Automotive focusing on localisation to grow business in India

Continental sees huge growth happening like what happened in China two years back, says Doreswamy

Continental Automotive India Private Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of Continental AG of Germany, is focusing on localisation to scale up its business, according to president and CEO Prashanth Doreswamy. 

“Localisation is very important in India as it is a very value-driven market as importing everything gets very expensive,” he said. “The biggest challenge for us is to make our products affordable. That is why localisation is very important for us” he told The Hindu.

“At this point of time, it [business volume in India] could be X but Continental sees a huge growth happening like what happened in China two years back,” Mr. Doreswamy said.

“Keeping this is mind, Continental continues to invest in India as addition of new technologies are bringing new capacities or even localisation.”

“Our vision is to make mobility affordable and be a part of the change in the market. We believe in growing at a faster rate than the growth in the market. In the last four years, Continental has almost grown 2.5 times the market. While the India market is growing at about 8%, we were growing at about 20%,” he said.

The company recently inaugurated a new plant in Pune for its surface solutions business where it has invested more than ₹200 crore. 

This business manufactures applications on seating, door trims, and instrument panels which are alternative for leather and comes at a much lower cost without losing its appearance or feel.