Hero Motors & Magna Steyr India form agreement

Hero Motors Limited (HML), a part of the $5 billion USD Hero Group and specialist in transmissions for recreation products, and Magna Steyr India Pvt. Ltd., a co-operation between Magna Steyr and Magna Powertrain, operating units of Magna International Inc., announced today they have entered into a business development and technical assistance agreement.

As part of the agreement, which combines HML's leadership in developing recreational vehicles and Magna's diverse engineering expertise, HML and Magna Steyr India will co-operate in the development of new product lines, including drivetrain assemblies for the global recreation market as well as the India automotive industry.

''The alliance uniquely positions Hero Motors to provide end-to-end solutions for powertrain products worldwide,'' said Pankaj Munjal, Managing Director of Hero Motors. ''As a player in the automotive industry for drivetrain systems, Hero felt the need for an alliance which would enhance our service capability to the customer by including design competence, advanced engineering and project management to our already existing manufacturing excellence.''

Erwin Haas, Sr. VP of Engineering at Magna Powertrain, said: ''This is an important step for Magna Steyr India, to bring all the state-of-the-art engineering capabilities of Magna into the rapidly growing India market. Our defined target is a win-win situation for both Hero Motors and Magna Steyr India. We see it as a challenge and at the same time an opportunity to combine our strengths and progress together into a successful business future.''