Ingress ready to expand car parts business

AUTOMOTIVE components manufacturing company Ingress Industrial (Thailand) will invest around Bt2 billion in Malaysia, India and Vietnam to expand its operations and business base. 
Wahab bin Ismail, Ingress Industrial’s executive director, said that the firm would invest around Bt1.2 billion in high tensile press technology.
The firm will also invest Bt600 million in India, with expanded manufacturing facilities, including a plant to make roll-formed moulding parts, in Gujarat on the country’s west side, and invest around Bt200 million with a Korean partner to set up assembly and manufacturing plants in Vietnam.
“The investment in India will bigger than Vietnam in the next three to five years. The firm also plans to expand its production line to support electric cars,” he said. 
He said the trends in vehicles in the near future would include electric vehicle (e-vehicles) with more flexible designs and the use of new, lighter but stronger, materials.
The demand for e-vehicles will be high, he said, due to increased demand, especially from China, where the tarฌget is for 20 per cent of all new vehicles to be electric-powered by 2019.
In India, the target is for all new vehicles to be electric by 2025. At the moment, e-vehicles account for just 1 per cent of the market. 
Meanwhile, Abdul Rahim bin Haji Hitam, chief executive director of Ingress Industrial (Thailand), said that the firm will focus on new technologies to support its production line. For stamping processes, the firm will use high-tensile welding and pressing technology. In the toll forming areas, it will use new laser welding, heat bending, aluminium bending and aluminium stamping technology in plants in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and India.
The firm will focus on the development of vehicle parts including door sashes, glass guides, windshield moulding, roof drip moulding, beltline moulding and small brackets. 
He added that Ingress Industrial would also focus on alternative lightweight materials in line with energy efficiency objectives for electric vehicles.
The company will be involved in new projects in Malaysia, where is helping develop an energy efficiency vehicle (EEV); in Thailand, with its ECO Car 2 project in 2019; and Indonesia, with its the low-cost green car (LCGC) project in the near future. 
The firm also plans business expansion in India, Indonesia and Thailand. For the project in India, the firm will work with new local partners to expand its manufacturing base to other locations with a target to develop original equipment manufacturer (OEM) products to support the automotive industry.
The project in Indonesia will focus on the corporate area, with strategic partners to expand its operation into medium stamping and welding assembly.
In Thailand, the firm will install a new production line for medium-sized parts capitalising on its in-house press-die making capabilities. The firm also has a five-year project in the pipeline to develop automotive components to support the Perodua D20N in Malaysia, Honda’s new CRV in Thailand and Malaysia, Nissan’s H608 in Thailand and the Mitsubishi Xpander in Indonesia.
The project will see investment of Bt217 million that is expected to generate revenue of around Bt1.1 billion. 
“Thailand serves as an automotive production hub in Asean, serving both the export and domestic market,” the chief executive director said. “Thailand’s automotive market has enjoyed significant growth, especially coming from export volume.”
He said the launch of the Thailand 4.0 initiative would also boost the automotive market.