Rane makes foray into steering fluid market

Market estimated at 8 mn litres at Rs 200 cr.

Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL), a joint venture between Chennai-based Rane Group and US-based TRW Inc, has forayed into the power steering fluid market by launching a product for the commercial and utility vehicles.

The company, which is into manufacturing and marketing of hydraulic power ste-ering and seat belts, expects to sell around 1 million litres of power steering fluid, Power Cruze, during the first three years through its distribution chain and authorised service network, according to senior officials.

“We have received some response from authorised dealers and customers that spurious and sub-standard steering fluids used in the steering systems are affecting the performance of our power steering systems. So, “we are launching a product for steering systems in commercial and utility vehicles,” said Harish Lakshman, managing director, RTSSL. At present, there are few players in the niche segment of steering fluid market in India,” he added.

The new product developed through research and development done over two and a half years, was launched in New Delhi recently and is to be marketed all over India within March, 2011, informed P B Rajan, vice president, marketing, RTSSL.

Initially outsourcing the manufacturing to a Chennai-based automobile fluid manufacturer, the company plans to set up a manufacturing unit for steering fluids in the next six to eight months. It would also launch a power steering fluid for passenger cars in another two years since research is expected to take another year for developing the product, he said.

The sales target for the fluid during the first year of operation is expected to be around 350,000 litres in volume and around Rs 8 crore in terms of value. The total market for fluid used in steering systems of commercial vehicles is estimated at 8 million litres and is valued around Rs 200 crore.

The company has around 18 field engineers and 142 authorised service centres across the country. It has crossed marketing 1 million power steering gears and expects to reach a turnover of Rs 500 crore during the present fiscal. It recently bagged an export order of over Rs 50 crore from Renault.