Harman, a $ 4.4 billion global provider of audio and infotainment solutions company is focusing on India market to achieve sales of $500 million in the next five years. The company currently has a $ 250million order book in this segment.
Commenting on India operations, Dinesh C. Paliwal, chairman, president and chief executive officer Harman International Industries, Inc. said, "Harman India has made significant investments in the India market. The company has large development centers in Pune and Bangalore, the fastest growing within the Harman family. The India Development Centers primarily consist of engineering, product development, competency centres for the three Harman divisions �"lifestyle, automotive audio and infotainment, and professional audio. These centers were the largest contributor among emerging markets for patent and disclosures filing in 2012. In addition, Pune will host their upcoming manufacturing facility and a state of the art acoustics lab. The company expects a 100 per cent growth for the next five years in India."
Harman is setting up a manufacturing facility in Chakan near Pune. The facility will entail SMT and Infotainment manufacturing capabilities like radio and navigation and is slated to be operational by the end of 2013. It has invested $ 10 million in this facility.
Globally, company is setting up experience centres for the Harman products which include Delhi, Shanghai, Moscow and New York.
Paliwal added, "In addition, Pune will host their upcoming manufacturing facility and an acoustics lab. The Pune manufacturing facility is expected to begin production by the fourth quarter of this year. The first Phase of the manufacturing facility will focus on production of next generation audio and infotainment systems for Tata & Fiat projects."
According to Palliwal, over 80 per cent of luxury cars worldwide are fitted with Harman audio solutions. They are the leading suppliers of advanced connectivity, infotainment, and audio to the world's leading automakers, including Audi, BMW, Chrysler, FIAT, Ferrari, General Motors, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Land Rover, Mercedes Benz, Porsche, Toyota, and Volkswagen.
Explaining India strategy, Anand Ramamoorthy, managing director, Harman International India, "Harman has a strong presence in Indian automotive infotainment market, with the two significant design wins at Tata and Fiat. As part of the strategic multi-year deal signed with Tata, Harman is leveraging its world-class engineering and development teams to create custom audio, navigation, and multimedia solutions for vehicles across Tata's model lines."
The first Tata vehicle to include Harman products will be the limited edition TATA Aria MPV, which will include a premium branded audio system under the JBL brand.
