Rockman Industries, the auto-components arm of the Hero Group, announced the opening of the UK office, the first outside India for its composites subsidiary, Moldex. The office is located in Silverstone, home of Formula One in the UK, and in the midst of world-leading high-performance technology and motorsport businesses.
Silverstone is the hub of motorsport activities in Europe with a number of racing competitions including Formula One being held in the circuit. The new office will focus on expanding the carbon composites business by increasing market penetration, especially in the USA and the European markets. In early 2017, Rockman Industries acquired Moldex Composites, a British-Indian carbon-composites design, and manufacturing company as a part of group’s diversification strategy.
“We expect carbon composites to account for about 10% of Rockmans’ revenue in the next five years. Besides motorsports and aerospace, there is a global shift towards carbon fibre in the automobiles sector. At Rockman Industries we want to be at the forefront of this technology as it further penetrates different sectors including automotive. The opening of the UK office is a step in that direction as it gives us access to the centre of motorsports in Europe,” said Mr. Suman Kant Munjal, Chairman Managing Director, Rockman Industries.
Globally motorsports and aerospace industries are leading the move towards shedding weight with carbon composites playing a vital role. Reduction in weight translates into airplanes carrying larger payloads for longer distances while reducing emissions. At the same time, it helps motorsports vehicles accelerate and travel faster.
“At Rockman Industries, we are aiming to make inroads into the global carbon composites markets. The opening of the UK office in Silverstone, the home of UK motor racing, showcases our commitment to lead this new technology sector. Our team would be targeting the European and the American markets through this office,” said Mr. Ujjwal Munjal, Executive Director, Rockman Industries.
A good indicator of the way technology is changing in the automobiles industry would be to evaluate the direction that aerospace and motorsports have taken. About 30 years ago, the penetration of aluminum started to increase as a lighter option to iron and steel. The next wave has been towards carbon composites and it is now widely used by motorsports manufacturers globally. This is expected to proliferate rapidly in mass produced vehicles in the automotive sector as manufacturing technologies evolve, which will be the inflection point of growth of composites.
Rockman Industries, a part of the Hero group was incorporated in the year 1960 in Ludhiana. Today, the company is amongst the leading auto components companies in India with plants in Ludhiana, Mangli, Bawal, Hardwar and Chennai. Rockman supplies Aluminium die casting components and automotive chains to some of the leading automobile OEMs in India and overseas. It is also an industry leader in two-wheeler alloy wheels in India with the installed capacity of 5.6 million wheels annually.
Source: Rockman Industries
