Nexteer Automotive in Auburn Hills Opens Software Center, Production Facility in India

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Nexteer has opened two new facilities in India – a software center and a production facility (above). // Photograph Courtesy of Nexteer

Auburn Hills’ Nexteer Automotive Wednesday opened two new facilities in southern India – a software center in Bengaluru and a production facility in Chennai.

The India Software Center in Bengaluru focuses on downstream software production and validation.

“Software plays an increasingly important role in the safety and performance of Nexteer’s advanced steering systems,” says Robin Milavec, vice president of global engineering. “We view our software and electronic capabilities as key differentiators – especially as the market demand and steering function complexity grows with driver assist features and varying levels of automated driving.

“Nexteer is committed to deploying a best-in-class global team that delivers innovative solutions with speed, flexibility, and seamless vehicle integration.”

The center employs almost 100 software engineers and plans to grow to 200 employees by the end of 2019.

“The abundance of highly skilled software engineers in Bengaluru will help Nexteer recruit top talent who can help us meet our global customers’ growing demands for Nexteer’s smart software solutions,” says Usha Holalkere, engineering and operations director of the India Software Center. “The ISC engineers are part of Nexteer’s global team that works on the industry’s leading edge, creating designs for varying levels of automated driving and cyber security.”

Nexteer also has a Global Technical Center in the U.S. that works in tandem with regional technical centers in Poland and China. The teams will continue to upstream software development and research and development innovation.

The Chennai facility is Nexteer’s third manufacturing plant in India and celebrated its grand opening this week. The almost-90,000-square-foot space expands regional production capacity for the company’s electric power steering systems, which improve control, enable advanced driver assistance systems such as lane keeping, park assist, lane departure warning, traffic assist, and increase fuel efficiency, and reduce emissions.

“The opening of Nexteer’s facility in Chennai and our expanded production capacity in India are important pieces in our global strategy and represent our confidence in the growth potential of the automotive market within this region,” says Tao Liu, senior vice president and global COO of Nexteer Automotive.

Nexteer offers steering and driveline systems, advanced driver assistance systems, and automated driving technologies for OEMs. Throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, the company has 25 manufacturing plants, three technical centers, and 14 customer service centers.