Tata Motors, others plan to ramp up presence in Trump land

Swaraj BaggonkarMoneycontrolPremier Indian companies such as Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Bharat Forge are breaking new ground in the US, making new investments in setting up offices, technical centers and production facilities.This comes at a time when the US, under its new President Donald Trump, has adopted an increasingly robust protectionist attitude where it is trying to safeguard jobs for locals by penalizing imports while promoting domestic manufacturing.India’s largest automotive company by revenue Tata Motors, is setting up a center in Palo Alto, California to promote and scout for next-gen break-through automotive technologies in areas like autonomous driving, connected cars, alternate fuels and other advanced mobility solutions.Tata Group-owned design and technology services providing company Tata Elxsi, which is working on driverless cars, forged two partnerships in quick succession in the last two months with US companies.The company announced partnerships with DiSTI Corporation Florida, to create user interface solutions to automotive clients delivering high-end HMI design, innovative and appealing visual content for futuristic displays in vehicles.It also joined hands with Irdeto, the world leader in digital platform security, to provide secure in-car display systems for automobiles.Last week TVS Group’s flagship company Sundaram Clayton said it will set up its first manufacturing facility outside India with an investment of Rs 350 crore. The new facility which will come up in Dorchester County, South Carolina, US, will create a capacity of 10000 MT over a period of five years.Lakshmi Venu, Joint Managing Director, Sundaram Clayton, said, “The United States is a strategically important market for us. Over the years we have built strong partnerships with global OEMs in the region and have decided to set a state-of-the-art facility in the US to better support our customers there.”Tractor and utility vehicle market leader Mahindra & Mahindra, which has assembly plants for tractors in the US, launched electric scooters and e-bikes, locally designed and developed in the US.World’s largest forging company Bharat Forge which is headquartered in Pune, made the acquisition of Wisconsin-based forging company Walker Forge two months ago for USD 14 million.The company now aims to tap this acquisition for expanding its US operations where retail demand is seen on an upward trajectory especially for trucks, which forms a critical part of Bharat Forge's revenue.   “Our acquisition of Walker Forge which is now called Bharat Forge PMT Technology in Tennessee is complete and will give us a solid presence in the US and ability to leverage any demand that arises on a short-term basis in North America. We have bought this company which has fairly decent capacity; we will use it to complement what we do from here and start growing our business in the US”, Amit Kalyani, executive director, Bharat Forge said.Last month, Trump warned automakers of a penalizing steep tax of 35 percent on all cars sold in the US but were built outside the country. This was done to encourage local manufacturing and generate jobs in the US which had come under pressure after car-makers shifted manufacturing to cheaper countries like Mexico, China and India.