‘We are looking to set up a proving ground facility in India.’

Applus+ IDIADA is a leading company specialising in providing design, engineering, testing and homologation services to the automotive industry worldwide. Mandip Tack, director, Business Unit India, Applus+ IDIADA Group, spoke to Kiran Bajad recently.

What kind of engagement are you looking with Indian customers?

We work with OEMs on full vehicle validation, NVH, crash simulation, vehicle dynamics and testing. On the design side, we are working on interior and exterior design of complete vehicles. We have developed Dynasoft, the world’s leading software which is used to analyse and report data from vehicle dynamics tests.

In India, our main focus is to help OEMs improve their testing methodology, gain more objective testing data. We have been working with European and Japanese OEMs and trying to bring that knowledge to India.

We work with all major OEMs in India like Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors and many more. We have been present in India since 2006 as part of the NATRiP project and are consulting partner to the government to help develop the automotive test centre. We have set up an India office in 2008 and have now grown to about 130 people here.

What are your plans for the next 2-3 years in India?

We see a lot of growth in India and are looking to expand our engineering services in terms of design and simulations, and introduces the latest techniques and methodologies from Europe.

I see a lot more growth in the testing field in India. We are looking at some investment in India but it’s early stages yet. We are also discussing, with a particular State, the potential to set up a proving ground facility in India.

How much does India contribute to your global business?

In India, we work with a lot of customers but the revenue is not very big at the moment. Our prediction for growth in India is very high simply because it is one of the largest growing markets globally and there is clear drive from the government for growth. Infrastructure needs to catch up but the potential is very high as the market is increasing.

You have been a regular participant at the Automotive Testing Expo in Chennai. What was your focus this year?

This time around, our focus is on brake durability. We are developing our capability and improving our engagement with OEMs for better brake durability with the experience that we have with European customers. I think this show in India is growing and the number of visitors and participants are increasing.