Kone Elevator India will launch an updated range of Kone N MonoSpace and Kone N MiniSpace elevators later this year.
The company’s Managing Director, Mr Neeraj Sharma, said the elevators, to be launched in the second half of this year, are more energy efficient, varied in design and offer more comfort than the present line.
Kone N MonoSpace do not need machine rooms and MiniSpace only a small machine room compared to conventional elevators.
India is one of the Finnish company’s fastest growing markets.
The Indian subsidiary has a factory, an 8.5-acre facility at Ayanambakkam near Chennai.
The factory will be shifted to an 18-acre facility near Sriperumbudur.
The objective is to double its existing capacity, he said, while declining to disclose the company’s production capacity. There will be significant new job generation – the details of the investment at the new factory are being finalised – and this will add to Kone’s workforce of over 3,000 including 250 engineers in R&D at the Integrated Technology and Engineering Centre, Kone’s global research facility in Chennai.
India’s elevator market is estimated at 40,000 units a year and Kone has a 20 per cent market share.
Mr Noud Veeger, Executive Vice-President, Asia Pacific and Middle East, Kone Corporation, said the research facility here has contributed significantly to the development of the new range that will soon cover more than half of Kone’s product range.
The release here will be a part of the global launch of the new products.
Mr Keikki Leppanen, Executive Vice-President, New Equipment Business, Kone Corporation, said the range consumes one-third less energy compared to existing models. Elevators account for about 2-10 per cent of a building’s total energy consumption.