Marelli has launched a new automotive lighting manufacturing facility in Sanand, Gujarat, as part of its joint venture with Motherson. The new facility will further enhance the footprint of Marelli Motherson Lighting India in one of the fastest-growing passenger car markets in the country.
The new facility marks the second lighting manufacturing plant for the joint venture in Sanand and will specialize in high-performance exterior lighting solutions for the passenger car segment. The new plant aims to cater to the growing demand in the Indian market while also indigenizing advanced lighting solutions for Indian OEMs.
Novel lighting solutions localized for the first time in India:
The new facility will see the localization of several lighting solutions that have never been produced in India before. These include single-piece, full-width lighting solutions that stretch almost two meters across the front and rear of a car, providing a uniform light signature.
The new plant will also manufacture ultra-slim headlamp modules that stand just 17 millimeters tall. These solutions will be offered with adaptive driving beam, high beam boost, and ambient lighting functions depending on the customer’s requirements.
For the production of long, single-piece lamps, high-tonnage injection moulding machines have been installed in the plant. The building design has been optimized to support heavy machinery, and this has been facilitated by the installation of overhead cranes, which are specialized and have been installed for the first time in the Indian automotive lighting industry.
Capacity, sustainability, and national scale:
Sustainability has been incorporated into the design of the facility. Solar rooftop installations are functional, and the company is moving ahead with further green energy purchases through open access. As part of its social responsibility program, the company has planted 1,700 trees in the region.
With this new addition, Marelli’s presence in India now comprises 16 manufacturing facilities and three R&D centers. The Marelli Motherson Lighting India joint venture has a workforce in excess of 4,500 employees and eight plants in Pune, Sanand, Bawal, and Noida, in addition to a design center, testing lab, PCB production facility, and tooling.
The Sanand expansion represents ongoing investment in localized manufacturing, advanced automotive lighting solutions, and supply chain strength in the Indian passenger car market.
