Force Motors inaugurated its new state of the art plant in Chakan to manufacture engines and front and rear axles for Mercedes Benz India. Force Motors has been the preferred partner for producing engines for all Mercedes Benz cars and SUV’s made in India since 1997. So far the company was manufacturing engines alone, but with this new plant Force Motors will also supply front and rear axles for all Mercedes Benz vehicles. The new plant has a capacity to manufacture 20,000 engines and 20,000 front and rear axles annually. This capacity can be further enhanced depending upon the requirement from Mercedes Benz India.
Force Motors plant at Chakan
Till date Force Motors has supplied over 60,000 engines and more than 50,000 axles to Mercedes Benz India. The new plant is the next step in the localisation and “Make in India” success story for the German auto major. This project was conceptualised in June 2015 and the first engine rolled out in February 2016.
Prasan Firodia, Managing Director, Force Motors said, “The inauguration of this plant marks a significant step in our 45 year long association with Mercedes Benz. The association with Mercedes Benz India Car Plant alone spans over 19 years and has helped establishForce Motors’ strengthas a preferred supplier of critical and high precision aggregates to leading European Luxury Brands. This new plant will help Force Motors be more flexible in terms of the production capacity demands and will enable us to continue to produce engines and axles to the exacting standards expected by Mercedes Benz globally.”
The Force Motors Chakan plant is spread over 130,000sqft with 8 lines that produce and test up to 14 engine variants. This includes the 4-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines, 6-cylinder V-type gasoline and diesel engines, powering the complete range of cars and SUVs made by Mercedes Benz India. It employs around 200 people and works in 2 shifts.
The company has invested Rs 100 crore for this new plant, which is a part of the Rs 700 crore investments pledged by Force Motors over the next 2 years, across its value chain for multiple products/ business verticals. The plant is equipped with 2 modern hot test beds to test 100% of the engines produced for quality and performance.
