Chennai : Rane TRW Steering Systems Ltd (RTSSL), a 50:50 joint venture Company of Rane Group and TRW Automotive (NYSE: TRW) today announced that it will expand RTSSL to include   manufacture of airbags at its plant which currently manufactures seat belt systems in Singaperumal Koil near Chennai.  This expanded Joint Venture further strengthens RTSSL’s position in providing state of the art occupant safety solutions to its customers, meeting its objective to help protect people.

The investment is a proactive step to prepare for the trend of increased vehicle safety.  This expanded Joint Venture will meet TRW’s global manufacturing standards and will make 3.2lakh units per annum initially, with a ramp up of manufacturing capacity to 8.1lakh units in three to five years’ time.  The total investment is around Rs. 35 crores in the next five years to manufacture both airbags and seat belts.

“We are excited to bring these new technologies to the Indian market and will work closely with TRW to delight our customers,” said, Harish Lakshman, managing director, RTSSL.

Frank Mueller, Vice President & GM Global Occupant Safety Systems, TRW Automotive GmbH, said “India is a very important market for TRW and we look forward to our continued partnership with Rane to bring the best of our technologies to help protect drivers and occupants here.  As a global leader in safety, we are committed to providing affordable safety for all car drivers – we talk about the safety everyone deserves.”

The manufacturing facility will utilise driver and passenger airbag technology developed by TRW in Germany.  The airbags will be assembled out of the Chennai Plant; and the intention is to leverage the Rane Group supplier network in a phased manner.