Amara Raja inks pact with Maruti for battery supply  ( October '13,2004, FE)

Amara Raja Batteries Ltd (ARBL) a leading manufacturer of automotive batteries, announced the signing of an ‘OE’ agreement with passenger car leader Maruti Udyog Ltd (MUL). ARBL would supply 1,00,000 batteries to Maruti in the next 12 months

Speaking at a press meet here on Tuesday, Jay Galla, managing director, ARBL said that it took three year of efforts for the company to get qualified as a supplier for Maruti. “We would be catering to close to 20% of Maruti’s needs through the order,” said Mr Galla. To cater to the increase in demand the company is also scaling up its capacity from 1 billion to 1.5 billion units per annum by the end of this year.

ARBL’s domestic OE clients include Ford India, Daimler Chrysler India (E class), General Motors (for Chevrolet Tavera and Optra) and Honda (for Accord and City). Close to 15% of the production in 2003-04 was for the OE market and ARBL has a 17% market share in the OE passenger car segment.

The exports of ARBL contribute to 10% of the total sales now and the company plans to take it up to 20% to 25% in the next few years.