orbital/ucal deal in india

ASX
RELEASE:
15
April
2013
NYSE Amex Code: OBT
Orbital
Signs Co
-
operation Agreement in India
?
Co
-
operation agreement signed with UCAL
Fuel
Systems
in India,
key supplier to India
n
Auto Industry
?
Intention is to e
stabl
ish
a Joint Venture in India for engineering, testing and product
development
?
Targeting
India
n
manufacturers of engines, motorcycles, automobiles and trucks
PERTH, AUSTRALIA
–
Orbital is pleased to announce that it has
signed a Co
-
operation
Agreement with UCAL
Fuel Systems Ltd
(UCAL)
in Chennai India. The agreement allows the
companies to begin the
process of
openly marketing to
customer
s in advance of
creati
ng a
joint venture company
based in India
.
The target markets for the proposed Joint Venture are:
?
Vehicle, e
ngine and
c
omponent testing and certification:
Utilizing
Orbital’s
35
years of
experien
ce in
design, product development and testing
combined with U
CAL’s
23
years
of
R&D
capabilities
and manufacturing experience
,
the new joint venture company plans
to offer services to the expanding
engine and vehicle
markets in India.
?
Engineering Consulting: Offering engineering solutions to the local market
combining
Orbital’s combustion, engine design, and engine management systems experience with
the component design
,
development
and manufacturing
experience of UCAL.
?
Design,
d
evelopment and
m
anufacture of
Engine Management Systems (
EMS
)
and Fuel
Systems f
or the local market. These include
gasoline
systems and
gaseous
systems for
the growing natural gas market in India.
UCAL and Orbital have complementary skills
and experience in th
ese
field
s
.
As with Orbital’s own
Engineering
Consulting Services business, this new Joint Venture will
provide engineering solutions to customers
in India
aimed at
new product
opportunities
. The
business should naturally evolv
e into supply of EMS systems
,
including
the alternative fuels
segment
wher
e Orbital
has made significant technical progress
over the past three years.
The
number of alternative fuel
powered vehicles
in India
has more than double
d
since 2007
. T
he
global
alternative fuel vehicle
fleet
was 15.2 million units in 2011 and is growing
. India
is a
lso
a
major producer of
petrol powered motor
cycles
, second largest in the world,
with
15.3 million
produced
in 2012
,
and has
rapidly growing automotive and commercial truck markets.
Mr Terry Stinson, CEO and Managing Director of Orbital comm
ents: “
A Joint Venture in India
with an esteemed partner like UCAL
provides
an opportunity
to expand our markets and grow
Orbital’s
top line
. The target is to use this new base in India
as
the
vehicle
to reduce the over
-
all cost of our
products and services. Building on success with
new product offerings in Ind
ia,
the Joint Venture
will be able to
also
take these new products
to international markets. Not
only will the
new
produ
cts be
“
state
-
of
-
the
-
art
”
, they will also have
the
price a
dvantage of the
lower
cost base in India
.”
Details of the structure of the Joint Venture will be released to the market once finalised.
-
ENDS
-