Aptiv expands Oragadam plant by investing $45m for transition towards 'software defined vehicles'

CHENNAI:
Aptiv, a leading global technology company focused on making mobility safer, greener, and more connected, on Tuesday expanded its manufacturing facility in Oragadan here by investing more than $45 million in the next couple of months to provide automotive manufacturers with software-defined cockpit solutions.

Matthew Cole, Aptiv’s Senior Vice President and President of Advanced Safety and User Experience (AS&UX) told The New Indian Express that this marks the transformation of the automotive industry towards the software defined vehicle in India.

Software-defined vehicles" apparently refers to the state that the quantity and value of software (including electronic hardware) in a vehicle which exceeds that of the mechanical hardware; furthermore, it reflects the gradual transformation of automobiles from highly electromechanical terminals to intelligent, expandable mobile electronic terminals that can be continuously upgraded.

The expanded plant with nearly 220,000 square feet will produce cutting-edge cockpit control systems and will scale up to include advanced safety and user experience features such as radars, cameras, and next-generation electronic control units for India and global markets, said Cole. He said the software is designed, architected andf manufactured in India. Stating that Aptiv, which has been in india for the last 30 years, will be doubling the headcount of its employees. He said that most of the investm,ent has already been made in the plant.

He said Aptilv helped the transition to electric vehicles in India mainly with OEMs Mahindra and MG and now we are seeing a transformation towards software defined vehicles.The product was designed in the Bengaluru technical centre. The company has 13,000 employees, seven manufacturing centres and three technical centres in India.

Cole said that initially the focus is on the domestic market and talks are on with OEMs. But he did not rule out exports at a later stage.

“From our plant in Chennai, we are already supplying high-quality components, such as integrated body control modules (iBCM) to the key automakers in the country,” said Arun Devaraj, Vice President and Managing Director, AS&UX APAC (Non-China), Aptiv.