BENGALURU: Swedish automotive major Volvo Group on Thursday expanded its R&D operations in India to become the largest site outside Sweden.
Jan Gurander, Deputy CEO of Volvo Group laid the foundation stone for the 'Vehicle TechLab' in Bengaluru and said that India is playing a more important role for the group. "We clearly see the competence that we have among Indian employees, they are of a very high standard."
The Vehicle TechLab is designed as a collaborative virtual workspace, creating a simulated workshop environment using technologies like virtual reality, human body motion tracking and realistic digital rendering of vehicles that allows Volvo Engineers across the globe to connect and collaborate virtually.
It includes facilities such as vehicle garages, electrical & electronics lab, AR/VR Lab, and access to proving grounds.
"This facility will significantly reduce the development times, improve problem-solving and offer better insights and speed in building innovative solutions. Different cross-functional teams can come together, conceptualise, develop, validate the concepts and the designs," said CR Vishwanath, Vice President, Volvo Group Trucks Technology, India.
He added, "We will have a much faster turnaround time when it comes to our designs and solving problems."
Starting off with 750 people, Volvo Group Trucks Technology in India now employs over 1,600 engineers, and it has plans to add 400 more by the end of this year.
This is one of the most exciting times to be an engineer. The future of mobility will require tremendous transformation, and it is going to be electric, autonomous and connected, said Kamal Bali, President and MD, Volvo Group, India.
"We will have a very major role to play, and will be shifting gears into the new future of mobility and maybe drive that and create the future," he added.
The lab can house complete trucks, chassis and aggregates. It has various supporting equipment for engineers to test, innovate, validate and experiment with their ongoing work through a set up equipped with driving simulators, test benches, 3D scanners among various other tools and systems, officials said.
Earlier, in July 2021, Volvo Group launched CampX- the Global Innovation Arena. CampX in India has already engaged with close to 70 start-ups and is now building multiple proofs of concept with several start-ups.