BASF to strengthen its automotive business in India

New engineering plastics compounding plant and computer aided engineering lab in Thane
Die BASF SE (www.basf.com) announced its plans to expand its offerings for the automotive industry in India with investments in plants and technology. The company will build a new engineering plastics compounding plant at its existing site in Thane, which is expected to come on stream by the second half of 2009. As well as being used in the automotive industry, engineering plastics are also employed in the electrical and electronics industries, for example.

BASF has also set up a computer aided engineering (CAE) lab in Thane where its engineers design and optimize new engineering plastic parts in close cooperation with customers. “Advanced CAE technology is a key competence of BASF in the field of engineering plastics,” says Hermann Althoff, BASF’s Group Vice President, Asia Pacific Engineering Plastics. “Offering this service to customers, combined with local supply from the new plant, is a major milestone in growing our engineering plastics business in India.”

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Expansion of coatings facilities in Mangalore and catalyst plant in Chennai
Further, BASF Coatings commissioned a new Refinish Color Lab at Mangalore in February 2008, and is expanding its e-coat facility, which is expected to be completed by end of 2008. Also underway is the expansion of BASF’s catalyst plant in Chennai. The plant will triple its capacity by 2009, as announced in August 2007.

“Automotive is one of BASF’s most important target industry segments and our second-largest source of sales after the chemical industry,” explained Dr. Wolfgang Hapke, President Market & Business Development Asia Pacific. “In 2007, BASF derived over 13 percent of its total global sales of €58 billion from sales to the automotive industry.”

A special focus for BASF is energy efficiency and solutions to curb emissions. Today the company offers a catalyst that makes it possible for the first time to convert up to 96% of a vehicle´s emissions into harmless end products.

“Production figures show that Asia is the fastest growing region in the global automotive industry, with car production increasing by 8 percent last year; in India it has been growing at an average of 15 percent per year over the last few years. Innovations in the automotive industry are increasingly being driven by Asian companies, and BASF supports this trend,” said Prasad Chandran, Chairman BASF Group in India and Head South Asia.

BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany

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