Germany’s Balda (Bad Oeynhausen; www.balda.com) has sold its 60% share in Balda Motherson Solution to Motherson Sumi Systems (www.motherson.com) for an undisclosed amount. The joint venture based in south Indian Chennai failed to achieve the objectives initially set for the production of plastic assemblies for leading mobile phone manufacturers, the German injection moulder said.

Balda does not believe the site’s market prospects will improve in the future, in part because this would require high investments, adding that by ending its commitment in India, it had reached a new level in its restructuring process.

In its 2009 annual report, the group already had announced that it would rid itself of loss-making units, specifically mentioning Balda Motherson Solution. Since its founding in 2006, the Indian jv has been unable to climb out of the red. Balda had hoped the jv would afford it entry into the growing Indian market for mobile phone housings – world market leader Nokia also manufactures in Chennai. “We were in touch with Nokia at the time,” a Balda spokesman told PIE. However, nothing concrete came out of the talks. Attempts to win over other mobile phone manufacturers as clients also failed.

Although the revenues of Balda Motherson Solution climbed to EUR 1.5m (EUR 0.9m) in Q1 2010, Ebit stood at a negative EUR 0.2m (EUR 0.4m). At the end of March, Balda employed some 250 workers in India.