Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL), a 50:50 joint venture company of Rane Group and TRW Automotive today announced that it will expand RTSSL to include manufacture of airbags at its plant, which currently manufactures seat belt systems in Singaperumal Koil near Chennai.
The total investment is around Rs 35 crore in the next five years to manufacture both airbags and seat belts.
"This expanded joint venture further strengthens RTSSL’s position in providing state of the art occupant safety solutions to its customers, meeting its objective to help protect people," according to company's release.
The investment is a proactive step to prepare for the trend of increased vehicle safety and the joint venture will meet TRW’s global manufacturing standards and will make 3.2 lakh units per annum initially, with a ramp up of manufacturing capacity to 8.1lakh units in three to five years’ time.
The manufacturing facility will utilise driver and passenger airbag technology developed by TRW in Germany. The airbags will be assembled out of the Chennai Plant; and the intention is to leverage the Rane Group supplier network in a phased manner.
