Behind the Scenes

Lumax Cornaglia Auto Technologies Private Limited expanded their manufacturing facility and they invited us to have a look at what goes on inside

- Charan Karthik

LUMAX AUTO TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED. The name rings a bell, does it not? Yes, one of the leading manufacturers of lighting components in automobiles. Lumax Auto Technologies Ltd (LATL) entered into a 50:50 joint venture with Cornaglia s.p.a., Italy, in 2007 to form Lumax Cornaglia Auto Technologies (LCAT) and they recently expanded their manufacturing facility at Chakan, near Pune. The new facility is spread over an area of 2.5 lakh square feet and it also houses a 7,000-square foot research and development laboratory.

The facility is equipped with modern machines for manufacturing air filtration systems, snorkels, and various blow-molded products such as AdBlue tanks and degassing tanks. They have also ventured into and undertaken the production of fuel-tanks for commercial vehicles. LCAT have entered the rotational moulding segment with machines for manufacturing fuel-tanks, fenders, roofs, and mud-guards.

As we entered the premises, we were welcomed by Vikas Marwah, CEO, and department heads who accompanied him to explain what we would be doing today while answering a few of our questions. After introductions, we were joined by Pier Antonio Cornaglia, Director, LCAT, on call where he explained how the company was formed and the journey planned in the future. Cornaglia was founded in 1916 and they started with metal stamping and slowly proceeded towards exhaust systems for automobiles. The Torino-based company is currently valued at €340 million (Rs 3,050 crore) and has over 1,500 employees. Of the three research and development centres, the second biggest one is in India with Lumax as their partner while their biggest is in Torino.