[News] Marelli Joint Venture Opens New Lighting Plant in Sanand, India, Bringing Several First-of-Its-Kind Technologies to the Country

Marelli, a global technology supplier to the automotive sector, together with its joint venture partner Motherson, inaugurated today a new manufacturing facility for automotive lighting in Sanand in the Indian state of Gujarat. The new plant marks an important expansion of the Marelli Motherson Lighting India (MMLI) joint venture’s presence in the country.

“Our new facility in Sanand is a key milestone in bringing advanced lighting technologies to our customers in India. Together with our partner Motherson, we are uniting global innovation with strong local manufacturing capabilities to deliver cutting-edge solutions for the Indian market,” said Frank Huber, President of Marelli’s Lighting business. “Our joint venture continues to be a great success—built on Marelli’s global technology leadership, Motherson’s great infrastructure, execution excellence and deep customer relationships on the subcontinent, and the significant autonomy both partners have entrusted to the MMLI team since its establishment in 2008.”

“The inauguration of our cutting-edge automotive lighting plant underscores Motherson’s unwavering commitment to innovation, excellence, and customer-centricity. This strategic investment strengthens our ability to deliver advanced, future-ready lighting solutions while meeting the evolving needs of our customers,” said Laksh Vaaman Sehgal, Vice Chairman, Motherson. “We deeply appreciate the trust and support of our customers, which has been instrumental in achieving this significant milestone.”

With the new plant – MMLI’s second in Sanand –, Marelli and Motherson address the increasing demand from India’s rapidly growing passenger vehicle market. The new facility is dedicated to supplying high-performance exterior lighting systems. MMLI is introducing several first-of-its-kind lighting technologies to the Indian market. For example, it manufactures single-piece, end-to-end lamps spanning the full width of the car, creating impressively homogenous light signatures almost two meters long at the front and rear. The facility also localizes India’s slimmest headlamp modules with only 17 millimeters in height. Depending on customer requirements, specific configurations with or without adaptive driving beam (ADB), high-beam boost or ambient light will be available. These innovations enable new styling opportunities for vehicle design while delivering strong performance and safety benefits.

The new Sanand plant is the first in the country designed to manufacture such long, single‑piece lighting elements. High‑tonnage injection molding machines have been installed, and the building structure has been engineered to accommodate heavy tooling, supported by specialized overhead cranes – introduced for the first time in an Indian lighting plant.

Sustainability has been a core focus in the facility’s development. The plant features rooftop solar installations and is in the process of securing additional green energy through open‑access sourcing. As part of its corporate social responsibility commitments, MMLI has planted 1,700 trees in the region, contributing to the absorption of CO2 for the surrounding community.

The new opening further strengthens Marelli’s presence in India, bringing the company’s footprint to 16 production sites and three R&D centers. Supported by well-established partnerships, strong customer relationships and advanced technologies, Marelli is well positioned to drive growth and innovation in one of the world’s most dynamic automotive markets.

A major contributor is MMLI, a 50:50 joint venture with Motherson and one of India’s largest automotive lighting suppliers delivering high‑volume advanced lighting solutions for the fast‑growing passenger vehicle segment. With more than 4,500 employees the company operates eight plants in Pune, Sanand, Bawal and Noida, a global design center, testing lab and PCB production facility in Pune, a unique lighting tooling room in Noida as well as a warehouse in Bengaluru.

(Photo credit: Marelli)

TrendForce 2025 Global Automotive LED Market- Lighting and Display Product Trend
Release Date:
1. PDF (196 Pages)- 30 June 2025
2. EXCEL- 30 June 2025 and 31 December 2025
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