‘India has all the ingredients to emerge as the hub for global component manufacturing.’

Vinnie Mehta, director-general, ACMA, on the positive response expected by Indian component makers at the world’s largest auto trade fair, Automechanika Frankfurt.

The ACMA pavilion at this year’s Automechanika Frankfurt, which has opened today, will host around 50 Indian companies. What is the overall focus of the Indian component industry there this year?
Automechanika Frankfurt is one of the leading global trade fairs in the aftermarket that will showcase on the theme ‘How Mobile will we be tomorrow’. This year it will introduce three new concepts – Electronic & Systems, Part & Components and Tomorrow’s Mobility. The key objective of ACMA’s participation is to showcase India’s growing strength in the automotive aftermarket and expand business linkages for its members in the global arena.

What is the overall size of the ACMA pavilion and which are going to be the biggest exhibits?
The overall size of ACMA pavilion is 651 square metres with 46 member companies participating. Companies with sizeable display area include Talbros Automotive Components, Shriram Pistons & Rings and Allied Nippon among others.

Given prime minister Narendra Modi’s recent call to drive ‘Made-in-India’ products and manufacturing, how do you think Indian companies at Automechanika this year can drive new gains?
Our Hon’ble prime minister’s vision to develop India into a manufacturing hub, especially for exports, brings to the industry much positive energy and hope.

This move will definitely aid in solving issues like unemployment, slow economic growth and a high trade deficit. The prime minister’s call for ‘zero defect and zero effect’ manufacturing resonates well with our industry as we grow and produce for the world with concern for the environment.

Quality and eco-sustainability are also at the helm of ACMA’s agenda – of our 700 members, we can proudly boast of 632 ISO-9000 certifications, 530 TS-16949 certifications, 273 ISO-14001 certifications and 154 OHSAS-18001 certifications.

Also, India’s auto components industry has 14 Deming Awards to its credit, the highest outside of Japan. Considering a 17 percent growth in exports in the last fiscal year, with signs of growth returning in the global markets, we expect auto component exports to grow at a reasonable pace. We are indeed very hopeful of the new government’s initiatives and look forward to making the vision of ‘Made in India for the world’ a reality.

From a technology perspective, what can be the takeaways for Indian exhibitors from Automechanika?
Automechanika Frankfurt is considered to be one of the key automotive shows of the world that sets the spotlight on innovations and solutions in the fields of parts, systems, tuning, workshop equipment, bodywork & paintwork, car wash, IT and Management and the latest automobile services.

The event brings together the suppliers and OEMs at the same platform to interact, get the knowhow on various new technologies and requirements, and explore trade and export opportunities

ACMA has been making concerted efforts to help Indian auto components evolve along the technology curve. With an initiative of this kind we wish to strengthen our relationship and enhance business opportunities with the OEMs and aftermarket players from different countries; Indian exhibitors will also explore avenues for technological tie-ups with them.

The European new car market is on track for 12 straight months of growth. How can Indian companies increase their business in that region?
With the European markets bouncing back, we are certain that more orders and opportunities will be knocking on our doors. Europe has always remained as a strategic export market for Indian suppliers, this year exports from Europe accounted for 38 percent that increased by 14.45 percent as compared to the previous fiscal.

India has all the ingredients to emerge as the hub for global component manufacturing and we hope to see an improvement in the volumes for most of the auto companies.