Daimler AG to hire 800 in India for boosting R&D operations

Automotive major Daimler AG said today it plans to hire 800 professionals in India to boost Mercedes-Benz research and development team in this country to 2,000 headcount by the year 2015.

Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI) currently has a headcount of 1,200 in India -- 1,060 here and 140 in Pune.

MBRDI is engaged in digital (virtual) vehicle component development (computer aided design, computer aided engineering and electrical and electronics) and IT.

MBRDI today inaugurated its new facility at Whitefield here. Spread over an area of 20,000 square metres with capacity of 1,800 people, this is the largest R&D facility of Daimler outside Germany.

"....We will grow the number to about 2,000 (from 1,200 now) by 2015", Thomas Weber, member of the Board of Management, Daimler AG and Head of Group Research, Mercedes-Benz Cars Development, told reporters here.

Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies and its divisions include Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans and Daimler Buses.

"As a global development centre, the contribution of MBRDI can be envisaged from the fact that in 2012 alone, the organisation filed over 50 patients for innovations in automotive development...", Weber said.

MBRDI has been involved in some of Daimler's cutting-edge projects, officials said, adding that a case in point is the company's leadership toward Human Body Modeling (HBM) System.

The HBM simulation under development and testing at MBRDI, considers "almost" every possible combination of accident variables from biomechanics and the physical properties of human tissues to accident statistics and the physics of crash situations.

HBM is a key pillar of supporting Daimler's vision of accident-free driving, officials said.