Weber-Hydraulik Group Pushes Forward Internationalization with New Subsidiary in India

In late April of this year, the contracts for the establishment of Weber-Hydraulic India Ltd. were signed. Under the leadership of Weber and with the participation of the Indian partner Mr. Hursh Kalra, a Share Holder & Managing Director of Weber Hydraulic Pvt. Ltd., more than EUR 3 million will be invested in the coming years.

A factory building of approximately 27,000 square feet will shortly be erected on a site of 86,000 square feet near Pune in the well-known Chakan industrial zone. From here, Weber-Hydraulic India will supply local utility vehicle manufacturers with cabin tilt systems for the new generation of trucks. The production launch is planned for late 2011. Technical consulting, samples, and pre-series are already supported by the European plants of the Weber-Hydraulik Group. One regular customer has already been signed up, and an LOI has been signed and testing has started with another large OEM. Furthermore, negotiations are already under way with almost all other truck manufacturers.

The future expansion of the product portfolio for other mobile hydraulics applications is a viable possibility. For Weber-Hydraulik, the entry to the Indian market represents another logical step in the internationalization strategy in order to satisfy the strong local demand for modern solutions and reliable production with stable quality and to benefit from the expected strong growth in the market for modern utility vehicles and mobile hydraulics in India.

With more than 100 employees, Hursh Kalra, a medium-sized entrepreneur in Pune, India, produces mechanically processed metal components, partly on the basis of internally forged parts. Kalra Overseas Pvt. Ltd. markets these and other components produced by partner companies to OEM customers based primarily in Europe and in the USA and has been a successful supply partner of the Weber-Hydraulik Group for some time.

With its 1,000+ employees at several domestic and international locations, the Weber-Hydraulik Group, headquartered in Güglingen near Stuttgart, Germany, mainly develops and produces customer-specific hydraulics components and system solutions for renowned customers from fields such as i.a. utility vehicles, mobile cranes, agricultural and construction machinery, and forklifts. The 100% family-held company plans to return to a revenue level of more than EUR 200 million shortly.