Autocar Professional’s July 15 issue is a must-read

Investments have an interesting trajectory. While there are some that help drive up growth to new levels, there are some that do not pan out the way they are visualised to be. As automotive manufacturers rev up their investments in an effort to drive up sales, the July 15 issue of Autocar Professional strives to dig deep and bring you some special stories and the how some of automobile industry’s top India bets are panning out.

The impasse continues
The waiting game continues for Great Wall Motors. Though it’s 18 months since the Chinese automaker announced plans to take over the American auto bellwether’s India plant in Talegaon, the Indo-China faceoff has put a spanner in the works.

• Both politically as well as operationally, the challenges seem to be mounting, in terms of GWM kicking off operations in India, in the current context.
• Another Chinese automaker, Changan Automobile has also shelved its India plans and is now actively looking at ASEAN as the new base.

Reinventing the India connection
But for some car makers India investments are firing on all cylinders.

• For Skoda, India will be one of the key markets along with Russia and North Africa as the Czech carmaker unveils its ‘Next Level- Skoda 2030 strategy. Global CEO, Thomas Shafer outlined how the company intends to be among the top 5 best-selling brands in Europe by 2030.
  
  
   
• Another European major, Stellantis is betting heavily on India’s R&D expertise as it takes forward its electrification plans. The tech and R&D centres of PSA and FCA in Chennai as well as FCA’s proposed digital hub in Hyderabad are said to be take up lead roles.
   
• The President of Faurecia India, Figueras Bertrand is betting big on demand for the latest in-vehicle electronics and plans to double India market revenues to 500 million euros by 2025..

The connectivity aspect
In a 24x7 connected world, automotive players are also looking at ways to load up their cars with creature comforts.

Autocar Professional’s special webinar on Connected Mobility saw a galaxy of industry experts speak on the way forward. In case you missed the webinar, it’s all there in this edition.

Expert Views
In an effort to highlight some of the growing trends in the automotive world,

•  The Gartner study on top 10 automotive trends for 2021 indicates that autonomy and EVs are gaining traction across the automotive industry. Given the commitment to software, cyber-security is also a key investment area for automakers.
   
• Harikrishna Khandavilli, Location and R&D Head, Connected Car and Networking (CCN) business unit & Vehicle Networking and Information (VNI) Central Engineering, Continental Automotive India, says future cars will be dominated by software and data, resulting in a significant restructuring of the automotive ecosystem in the long run.
   

Fuel prices continue to rise
Even as EVs and hydrogen mobility continue to evolves, conventional fossil fuel emerges as one of the major challenges for the average ICE user. We debate on ways the State and the Centre could collaborate to bring out a greater price rationalisation.

But that’s not all. This mid-month issue is buzzing with plenty of other interesting industry activity over the past fortnight. Grab your copy today for all the information.

How you can read this issue 
Autocar Professional magazine is also available through all good newsagents and for download from Magzster. You can also buy one-off copies of Autocar Professional magazine – contact Ganesh at ganesh@haymarketsac.com. Alternatively, never miss an issue – subscribe to Autocar Professional magazine today