By IANS
New Delhi : Japanese auto component maker Okuma said Thursday it was looking forward to grab 5-6 percent of market share in India.
"Okuma is now looking forward to dominate the machining centre market in India. The automobile market is also growing and we are here to tap the growth as well," said Yoshimaro Hanaki, chief executive of the company, at a press conference here.
"Our business strategy is to provide timely support to the booming automobile and motorcycle, construction, farm equipment and the medical industries in the country. We are hopeful that we would be able to grab 5-6 percent of market share."
The company has been active in the Indian market since 1997 through different trading bodies but the recent boom in the manufacturing sector has prompted Okuma to begin its India operations in March.
In India, Okuma has customers like Mahindra and Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Axles India and Suzuki Powertrain among others. The machines are now being imported from Japan and Okuma is also looking forward to step up its service and sales in the country.
"The key objective for us now will be to serve the local customers, share our technology and manufacturing know-how and improve the speed of response in customer support," said Hanaki.
Asked what prompted them to open India operations, Hanaki said: "Over the years, India has been known for its competitive industry environment with special focus on manufacturing.
"India's machine tool output in the last three years has seen a tremendous growth rate, with nearly 50 percent increase in the last fiscal (2006-07) alone. And we see strong demand mainly from the automotive and consumer durables sector."
Okuma was founded by Eichi Okuma in 1898 and is now the oldest machine tool builder in Japan. With sales of $1.6 billion last fiscal, it is now among the top machine tool builders in the world.