Christopher J Lanker: 'Limited charging infra is the main challenge for electric mobility in India.’

BorgWarner is betting on the technical centres of recently acquired Delphi Technologies in Bangalore and Chennai to boost their position in India, especially for EVs and aftermarket. BorgWarner’s VP and General Manager, Emissions, Thermal And Turbo Systems, Asia Pacific,  speaks on the issues. 

How has the acquisition of Delphi Technologies strengthened your presence in India? 
By acquiring Delphi Technologies, our presence in India was strengthened. Alongside our plants in Pune, Manesar, Kakkalur and Chennai, we now have another technical centre in Bangalore as well as a production plant in Gurgaon. This reinforces our goal of providing customers in India with the best possible local support. At present, we are focused on welcoming and successfully integrating the employees and the product and moving forward together as one BorgWarner. 

What more can industry expect from the acquisition?
We are very excited to expand our electronics and power electronics capabilities but there is more to the transaction that just the power electronics. Delphi Technologies brings a breadth of products that complement BorgWarner’s already existing C, H, E (Combustion, Hybrid, Electric) portfolio, along with strong commercial vehicle and aftermarket business.

How do you see your ICE business shaping up in the near-term? With EVs, do you expect demand to reduce for products in this segment?
As we are delivering clean, fast-to-market technology solutions to increase fuel efficiency and performance and reduce emissions of modern combustion vehicles, we provide OEMs with suitable solutions for both, their existing and future vehicle architectures. We even expect the demand for BorgWarner products in combustion propulsion to grow, because advanced combustion products are playing a key role for highly-efficient hybrid technology — where global sales are rising steadily.

What are the new global trends with respect to EVs and can they be brought to Indian market?
There are many trending technologies for the EV market like our integrated drive module for example. By integrating an electric motor, advanced transmission technology and power electronics, the iDM is an all-in-one solution for electrified mobility. In India, the main challenge for electric mobility is that currently there is only limited infrastructure for recharging EVs. And at the moment it is not foreseeable when this is going to change. But as soon as the market demands for electric mobility, we will of course be there to support with our innovative technologies.

Apart from emissions, OEMs are also looking to reduce NVH levels. How do you plan to address it?
We are always observing the global automotive market and its needs, which is why most of our advanced technologies already support optimised noise, vibration and harshness behaviour. Actually, BorgWarner can count on over 120 years of experience in working with high precision engine and propulsion products like for example turbochargers or transmission components which are very NVH sensitive.

What is the road map for your aftermarket business in India?
Global aftermarket customers will continue to benefit from an extensive portfolio of BorgWarner and Delphi Technologies OE-quality aftermarket parts, services, diagnostic tools and test equipment. As a brand of BorgWarner, Delphi Technologies Aftermarket will maintain its brand identity, and customers across the world will be able to rely on their trusted contacts for sales and customer service support. 

This interview was first published in Autocar Professional's January 1, 2021 issue.