The $8-billion Lear Corporation, operating in the country through a 100 per cent subsidiary, has received orders for 50,000 interior sets from Fial, Lear sources said on Friday.

The Italian auto major has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government for the Palio range and projected production of 10,000 cars by December 1999.

Lear Corporation has invested over Rs 50 crore in the country and will soon double its investment, despite the country's sluggish automarket, the sources said.

Global suppliers to auto majors like Ford, General Motors (GM), Chrysler and many european companies, Lear Corp also caters to their Indian joint ventures, sources said.

Recently, Mahindra & Mahindra also roped in the US company to design and offer manufacturing support for its `Scorpio' utility-vehicleproject.

Sources said the company is in talks with Maruti Udyog Ltd, the biggest car maker in the country, to set up a joint venture.

Talks with Hindustan Motors were also on in this regard for the company's Mitsubishi Lancer car project, they added.

Lear Corporation also caters to Hyundai Motor India Ltd via a joint venture floated with a Korean company and has set up a plant in Chennai for Hyundai.

Worldwide supplier to GM, the company has bagged orders for 7,200 sets from the global auto major for its Corsa small car, slated to hit the country next year.

Lear Corporation, which started its operations in the country about one and a half year back, hopes to break even by next year, the sources said.

Besides the Chennai plant, the company has set up four other manufacturing facilities in the country, located at Halol, Mumbai, Nasik and Hyderabad.

For Mahindra & Mahindra's Scorpio project, the company will provide entire interior designing besides offering manufacturing support for a period ofseven years.

Lear Corporation offers support for seating systems in the present range of Mahindra & Mahindra vehicles, the sources said.

The company, which had acquired Delphi Seating Systems, also plans to make India an export base for its products, they added.