AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—Henniges Automotive Holdings Inc. has formed a strategic alliance with Amee Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd., enabling Henniges to support its original equipment manufacturer customers further in India through the design, development and execution of sealing solutions for the automotive industry.
Boris Gavric, Henniges vice president of global sales and marketing, said the alliance allows Henniges to bring its longstanding expertise to customers in new markets and expand its global footprint.
"By growing and establishing agreements in regions such as India, we can better support and drive results for customer programs with the sealing and anti-vibration solutions they need," Gavric said.
This is the second strategic alliance Henniges has formed since November. The firm also entered an agreement with Argentine sealing company Burkool S.A., a sealing solutions manufacturer based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Like its agreement with Amee, the agreement with Burkool is focused on supporting the growth of key automotive original manufacturers.
"With Henniges' current global footprint, we have been able to successfully develop, launch and support our main customers on global platforms," Gavric said. "As the trend to more global platforms increases—and governments impose further needs on local content—Henniges is looking to be the primary sealing company to offer those services for its customer base."
Prior to these alliances, Henniges did not have a physical manufacturing presence in either region, Gavric said. The firm has engineering based in Brazil and in India and has been providing production parts to both regions from North America for several years.
Amee is a producer of sealing systems and molded rubber parts for automobiles throughout India.
The firm is headquartered in Mumbai, India, and operates a plant in Vapi—located in Gujarat, India. It supplies to Force Motors Ltd., Mahindra Rise Ltd. and Tada Motors Group.
The company blends and mixes raw materials through extrusion and vulcanization to create more than 3,000 products.
Gavric said Amee's ideal location was one of the main reasons Henniges sought to partner with it. The Gujarat region is a key automotive center of India, he said.
Gavric said Henniges spent the last year doing extensive analysis of potential partners in India. The firm chose Amee Rubber based on a variety of factors, including feedback from the original equipment manufacturer customer base.
Burkool has more than 70 years experience in the sealing industry. It offers rubber and plastic seals, weatherstrips and a variety of extruded profiles for the automotive industry, directly supplying original equipment manufacturers. The firm said it has 60 percent of Argentina's market share and exports to more than 20 countries worldwide.
The Burkool partnership has been in development for the past several years according to Gavric.
"Partnering with Burkool will allow us to utilize the company's long, established relationships and capabilities in South America and leverage our technical knowledge and significant expertise in adapting our solutions for customers around the world," Gavric said in an email.
Henniges provides automotive original equipment manufactures with sealing systems for doors, windows, trunks, lift gates, sunroofs and hoods. The company also supplies the automotive market with anti-vibration products, encapsulated glass and other rubber components.