Automotive textiles meet in Mumbai

Mumbai: There is close connection between automobiles and technical textiles. Did you know that 35 per cent of an automobile consists of textiles? And did you know that a car uses 45 sq. m. of textiles for its interiors?

Even as the production and sales of automobiles in the country are witnessing unprecedented growth, automotive textiles (part of technical textiles) are doing extremely well.

Automobile sales grow at a CAGR of 16 per cent with 11 million units produced in 2006-07, projected to go up to 19 million units by 2010.

Textiles find extensive use in product categories such as interior trims, safety devices like seat belts and airbags, carpets, filters, battery separators, hood liners, hoses and belt reinforcement.

Globally, the auto textile market is set to touch $1 billion by 2010. As a rapidly growing automobile market, huge opportunities are opening up in India for this category of textile products.

To analyse the market and identify potential business opportunities, the Western Region of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has scheduled a conference on automotive textiles to be held in Mumbai on August 30.

In addition to domestic textile majors, international participation from Germany and Austria is expected. The Union Textiles Minister, Mr Shankersinh Vaghela, will inaugurate the event, FICCI said.