Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd. Business Report FY ended Mar. 2013
Business Highlights
Recent Years
Business Overview
-The Company's consolidated sales for the FY ended March 31, 2013 increased 3.4% to INR 14,693.7 million from INR 14,243.4 million the previous FY. This occurred in spite of the domestic passenger vehicles market only growing by 2%.
Recent Development in India
-During the FY ended March 31, 2013, the Company's two new projects towards backwards integration into aluminum die-casting and in-sourcing went into commercial production. The aluminum die-casting facility provided another way for the Company to add new customer segments. The in-sourcing program brought back processes that were outsourced earlier to improve quality, reduce cost and increase in-house value addition.
-Phase-4 involving the localization of Column type Electric Power Steering (CEPS) at the Dharuhera facility is expected to be completed by the first half of the FY ending March 31, 2014. Components of the CEPS system that are being localized include the input shaft, torsion bar, and retainer parts. The emphasis on localization has helped the Company to reduce its import percentage of total raw material costs to 19% in the FY ended March 31, 2013. This percentage is expected to decrease after the completion of Phase-4 of CEPS localization.
-The Company has started relocation of specific manufacturing operations in order to improve manufacturing efficiency in the FY ended March 31, 2013. Manufacturing operations in Gurgaon are being moved to three plants in Dharuhera, one in Sanand, one in Gujarat, and one in Chennai. The relocation process is expected to take around two years to complete.
JTEKT Sona Automotive India Limited (JSAI)
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, JSAI was involved in the following activities:
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, SFAL was involved in the following activities:
-During the FY ended March 31, 2013, the Company acquired the remaining 30.08% stake of Sona Stampings Limited (SSL) from Arjan Auto Private Limited, making SSL a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. SSL had revenue of INR 112 million in FY ended March 31, 2013.
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, SSL continued to consolidate its operations and strengthen its product quality standards.
Business Overview
-The Company's consolidated sales for the FY ended March 31, 2013 increased 3.4% to INR 14,693.7 million from INR 14,243.4 million the previous FY. This occurred in spite of the domestic passenger vehicles market only growing by 2%.Recent Development in India
-During the FY ended March 31, 2013, the Company's two new projects towards backwards integration into aluminum die-casting and in-sourcing went into commercial production. The aluminum die-casting facility provided another way for the Company to add new customer segments. The in-sourcing program brought back processes that were outsourced earlier to improve quality, reduce cost and increase in-house value addition.-Phase-4 involving the localization of Column type Electric Power Steering (CEPS) at the Dharuhera facility is expected to be completed by the first half of the FY ending March 31, 2014. Components of the CEPS system that are being localized include the input shaft, torsion bar, and retainer parts. The emphasis on localization has helped the Company to reduce its import percentage of total raw material costs to 19% in the FY ended March 31, 2013. This percentage is expected to decrease after the completion of Phase-4 of CEPS localization.
-The Company has started relocation of specific manufacturing operations in order to improve manufacturing efficiency in the FY ended March 31, 2013. Manufacturing operations in Gurgaon are being moved to three plants in Dharuhera, one in Sanand, one in Gujarat, and one in Chennai. The relocation process is expected to take around two years to complete.
JTEKT Sona Automotive India Limited (JSAI)
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, JSAI was involved in the following activities:
- Started mass production of Column type Electric Power Steering System (CEPS) for the Honda "Brio" and the Ashok Nissan "Evalia"
- Started production on Column Assembly Line #2 at a reduced cycle time of 27 seconds, an improvement of 10%
- Started in-house machining of sensor housings for CEPS used in the "Brio" and "Evalia"
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, SFAL was involved in the following activities:
- Manufactured column jacket assemblies and Intermediate Shafts for the Nissan "Micra" and "Sunny" and the Toyota "Etios" and "Liva"
- Manufactured jacket assemblies for both the tilt and non-tilt models of the Maruti "Wagon R"
- Started manufacturing column jacket assemblies for the Honda "Brio" and "Amaze" in September 2012
- Started manufacturing column jacket assemblies for the Nissan "Evalia" in July 2012
- Received ISO/TS 16949:2009 certification
-During the FY ended March 31, 2013, the Company acquired the remaining 30.08% stake of Sona Stampings Limited (SSL) from Arjan Auto Private Limited, making SSL a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. SSL had revenue of INR 112 million in FY ended March 31, 2013.
-In the FY ended March 31, 2013, SSL continued to consolidate its operations and strengthen its product quality standards.
Contracts
| Company name | OEM | Model | Product |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Nissan | Micra | Column jacket assembly and intermediate shaft |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Nissan | Sunny | Column jacket assembly and intermediate shaft |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Toyota | Etios | Column jacket assembly and intermediate shaft |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Toyota | Liva | Column jacket assembly and intermediate shaft |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Maruti Suzuki | Wagon R | Jacket assembly |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Nissan | Evalia | Column jacket assembly |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Honda | Brio | Column jacket assembly |
| Sona Fuji Kiko Automotive Ltd. | Honda | Amaze | Column jacket assembly |
| JTEKT Sona Automotive India Ltd. | Honda | Brio | Column type Power Steering System (CEPS) and sensor housings |
| JTEKT Sona Automotive India Ltd. | Ashok Nissan |
Evalia |
Column type Power Steering System (CEPS) and sensor housings |
Awards
| Award | Company |
| Best Practices Recognition Award | GM |
| Tier 2 Upgradation | Maruti Suzuki |
R&D
R&D Expenditure |
(in million INR) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2012 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2011 | |
| Overall | 27.8 | 26.3 | 23.5 |
R&D Activities
-Areas of research that the Company will focus on in the future include power transmission electronic control units for electric/hybrid vehicles and steer by wire technologies.Technological Alliance
-As of March 31, 2013, the Company has technical partnerships with JTEKT Corparation in Japan and Fuji Autotech AB in Sweden.Investment Activities
Capital Expenditures |
(in million INR) |
| FY ended Mar. 31, 2013 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2012 | FY ended Mar. 31, 2011 | |
| Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd. | 815 | 1,146 | 419 |