Autocar Professional’s Maharashtra Industry Special is a must-read

Maharashtra is amongst the top automotive hubs in the country and accounts for over 35 percent of the nation’s total automotive output by value. Therefore, as the country gets into phased restart mode, this mid-month July issue of Autocar Professional takes stock of the state of affairs with a ‘Maharashtra Industry Special’.

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An absolute cracker of an issue, this 64-page magazine gives you a blow-by-blow account of how business is shaping up in the state after the Covid-induced lockdown is being relaxed in a phased manner.


The EV push for Maharashtra
In an exclusive interview, Subhash Desai, Industries Minister, Government of Maharashtra says that he is confident that the state will attract a sizeable chunk of the total investment routed to India. He is keen about creating an EV hub in the state as well.

Recognising the growing inclination towards EVs, industry stake holders are also looking at boarding the EV bandwagon in a bid to make their businesses future safe.

•  Varroc Group plugs into the EV trend with an indigenously developed product suite.
•  In another exclusive interview, Vasanth Kamath, President of Brose India, outlines the company’s EV strategy
• Precision Camshafts, the Solapur-based Tier 1 supplier is also looking the EV way to help its business grow sustainably.
•  KPIT Technologies expects the automation trends to expand exponentially across India. Over the next five years, they expect most Indian cars to have Partial or Conditional automation.
• Mumbai-based RR Global makes a foray into the electric two-wheeler space with the newly launched BGauss electric scooters.
•  Jitendra New EV Tech too is bullish on the EV trend in the country. It is diversifying into EVs from dealerships.

But the pandemic concerns are not completely at rest in the state yet. Several key districts and automotive hubs including Aurangabad and Pune see renewed lockdown in a bid to contain growing number of Covid infected cases. We speak to a wide cross-section of Aurangabad-based automotive businesses including Bajaj Auto, Lumax and Varroc on their strategy going forward.

Automakers look at cost rationalisation
However, EVs may not be a profitable future strategy for many large OEMs. Pune-based Bharat Forge has writen off Rs 89 crore towards impairment of its investments in the UK-based Tevva Motors while Ashok Leyland has set aside nearly Rs 100 crore as impairment loss in its investment in UK-based electric bus maker Optare. Mahindra meanwhile plans to shut down its US-based electric two-wheeler start-up GenZe in a bid to cut down losses.

India Auto Inc and Indo-China tension
The troubles don’t seem to end for the Indian automotive sector. Already battling with supply chain disruptions and demand erosion, the Indo-China border tension could have some severe ramifications. But is that also an opportunity to give the much-needed push to localisation? Industry leaders, veterans and the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India thrash out the issue and list out strategies to make India competitive globally.

Autocar Professional sets the agenda on top trends
In the sixth edition of the road safety webinar hosted by Autocar Professional, experts outline the need to make road safety a “priority not an option’ globally. In a star studded panel comprising of the captains of India Inc and representatives from global safety watch dogs, we bring you excerpts from an incisive debate on promoting road safety in India.

In another virtual conference on the Future of Automotive Retail, auto manufacturers and dealers debate on the challenges, requirements and growing acceptance of buying and selling cars on a digital platform.

Car connectivity in top gear
In other news- speedy innovations in the car connectivity segment get a major push in a world adapting to the post Covid normal. We get you a comprehensive review.

But that is not all. This comprehensive 64-pager is chock-a-block with all the automotive action in last fortnight, key megatrends in the industry and the top news.

How you can read this issue – Click here to download
Once you’ve downloaded our Maharashtra Industry Special, use the Adobe Acrobat PDF viewer and switch to page-by-page view mode for the best reading experience!

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