Auto component maker Lumax Auto Technologies Ltd has signed a joint venture (JV) agreement with Japan's Mannoh Industrial Co Ltd to design and manufacture complete gear shift lever systems for manual, automatic, AMT & CVT transmissions in India, as per a stock market disclosure.
The new venture will be named Lumax Mannoh Allied Technologies Ltd (LMAT) and will be effective from April 2014.
As per the JV agreement, Lumax will hold 55 per cent stake and the remaining 45 per cent stake will be held by the Japanese firm.
LMAT will provide complete local designing & testing capability in India through its R&D centre located at Manesar, Gurgaon. A full-time Japanese designer from Mannoh will be stationed at Manesar to support the activity for designing technologies in India to maintain cost competitiveness.
Mannoh, a technology leader in automatic, AMT, CVT and MT type gear shift lever assemblies, has production facilities in Indonesia and Thailand besides Japan. The firm's clientele includes Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Suzuki, Mazda and Isuzu.
Founded in 1981, Pune-based Lumax Auto Technologies, a part of DK Jain Group of companies, manufactures parking brakes and gear shift levers along with its subsidiary Lumax DK Auto Industries Ltd. The firm has an overall market share of over 60 per cent in both passenger cars and commercial vehicles segments. Its clients include Maruti Suzuki, M&M, General Motors and Daimler.
Lumax has six manufacturing plants—two in Aurangabad besides one each in Himachal Pradesh, New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. The firm went public in 2006 and the promoters hold 51 per cent stake.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
