Continental to hire 500 engineers in B'luru centre

German engineering colossus Continental has decided to hire 500 additional engineers this year at its Bengaluru-based technical centre, taking the total R&D headcount on campus to 2,500.

The technical centre is involved in supporting Continental’s global initiatives in the automotive realm, even as the company readies itself for supplying demand emerging from the Indian market.

Evolving with the changing times, Continental’s suite of offerings today includes end-to-end solutions, with the product portfolio already having moved towards mobility services.

“Our strategy is based on a large product portfolio, taking care of Human-Machine Interface (HMI), connectivity, and systems integration,” Helmut Matschi — President of the Interior Division and Member of the Executive Board of Continental — told DH.

The company already markets a range of auto sensors, ADAS systems, cameras, and several aspects of HMI, through instrument clusters and displays, globally. This year, where HMI is concerned, it will be rolling out DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) technology, and an interior camera.

“We are taking steps towards automated driving through HMI. By 2022, we will also be coming out with a ‘holographic wave guide’, which would eliminate mirrors on headup displays, reducing their size,” Matschi said, adding that work in the realms of IoT and satellite-connectivity in cars is also underway.

In terms of India’s scope in the global auto-tech scene, Continental Automotive Components India MD Claude d’Gama Rose said, “While we don’t have technologies like headup displays in the Indian market, we have been in discussions with several OEMs.”

However, having found a market which fits its strategy well, d’Gama Rose hinted, “A big opportunity would be to tap the demand for engine management systems, as the country steers towards BS VI by 2020.”