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India’s automotive market, particularly the A- and B- segment SUVs, is experiencing strong growth. In particular, the trend suggests that customers in the B-segment SUV segment are looking for new features and technologies, emphasising cosmetic trims, soft touch parts, and smart illumination solutions.
18 Jul 2024 | 12021 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Yanfeng Automotive is a leading global supplier with over 220 facilities worldwide and 57,000 employees. Their product portfolio spans Interiors, Seating, Passive Safety, Cockpit Electronics, and Exteriors. Yanfeng is currently focusing on smart cabins and sustainable solutions to enhance user experiences in vehicles.
India’s automotive market, particularly the A- ...
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Yanfeng Automotive is a leading global supplier with over 220 facilities worldwide and 57,000 employees. Their product portfolio spans Interiors, Seating, Passive Safety, Cockpit Electronics, and Exteriors. Yanfeng is currently focusing on smart cabins and sustainable solutions to enhance user experiences in vehicles.
India’s automotive market, particularly the A- and B- segment SUVs, is experiencing strong growth. In particular, the trend suggests that customers in the B-segment SUV segment are looking for new features and technologies, emphasising cosmetic trims, soft touch parts, and smart illumination solutions.
Core business units
Yanfeng has 5 core business units with product portfolio including Interiors, Seating, Passive Safety, Cockpit Electronics & Exteriors.
Yanfeng is committed to be the leading automotive cabin supplier in the world. We transform how people experience vehicle interiors – creating the next living space where look, feel and function are seamlessly integrated to enable end-user experiences that are functional and emotional.
Key focus areas
Key areas which we are focusing on Smart Cabin are extraordinary ambience, Multi model HMI, personalized experience, adaptive interior layout and connected data and services.
Committed to automotive market
We are aware that India is a fast-growing market for automobiles and would continue to witness strong growth in future. Growth in A- and B-segment SUVs have been very strong with most automakers offering a plethora of models.
As the strong demand continues for these cars, the B-segement SUV is becoming more competitive with customers demanding new features and technologies to bring in wow factor for end users.
Our market research has indicated that trendy customers aspire for decorative trims and high-quality soft touch parts and illumination solutions.
Second most important factor in the Indian market is cost competitiveness. Yanfeng is committed to support its growing customer base with the right mix of technologies at attractive price points.
As part of the process, early engagement with customer it possible to address the customer requirements by selecting the right technologies upfront to bring in cost competitiveness with added features, says Sandeep Kulkarni - CEO & General Manager, India & South Asia Region – Yanfeng, Interiors.
“We are continuously widening our customer base and expect to serve more OEMs in the years to come with our expertise in these technologies,” adds Kulkarni.
India chapter
Yanfeng started its operations in India in 2012 in the state of Gujarat. Being part of the global company, Yanfeng India is focussed on interior products with its 3 manufacturing sites that are located close to OEMs with the support of an Engineering Centre that orchestrates engineering resources for the India market.
The company has been growing steadily and established three manufacturing footprints i.e., Sanand, Pune and Chennai, to support automotive OEM customers in those regions.
Expansion plans
With growing business demand from South India, Yanfeng India is now expanding into a bigger facility with full-fledged manufacturing and assembly set-up. This new state-of-the-art facility will be operational from Q4 2025. “This unit will open more opportunities for Yanfeng in terms of better reach and providing better services to our current and prospective customers in the region,” says Kulkarni.
Yanfeng is confident that this new facility will set a benchmark in automotive interior products inspired from global manufacturing standards like Industry 4.0, MES and digitization.
Engineering centre
Yanfeng India has a global engineering centre that supports its domestic engineering requirements apart from supporting the global design and development requirements. India engineering centre has a team of more than 100 technical experts working on various domestic and global projects.
That’s not all. Yanfeng’s Global standardized processes irrespective of region or location enables the India tech centre to take up full design and development responsibilities which shortens development time and satisfies varying customer requirements at same time.
“Our global network of engineering is connected seamlessly to ensure swift response to customers and benefits facilities in all markets. For instance, the Technical Centre in China has the full capability of design and development, testing and validation that can conduct any DV/PV test that would support our product lines, adds Kulkarni.
Product portfolio and technologies
With the Interior product portfolio and the positioning of a total interior integrator, Yanfeng in India manufactures all core products including cockpits, instrument panel, door panel, floor consoles and trims for its esteemed clientele.
The company has inhouse paint shop, Cut Sew Wrap, Foaming, Flaming, milling scoring, Membrane lamination, Hot press Lamination facilities along-with conventional processes.
Yanfeng now also has a well established and developed local supplier base to manage any secondary process such as chroming, pad printing and other processes.
Being a key global supplier, the company is working on new processes and innovation in products for global customers also. Paired with deep vertical integration in engineering, manufacturing, and excellence in execution, like everywhere else, our facilities in India can rapidly bring superior new solutions to the local market that support customer requirements.
Vision and mission
“Our vision is to be the best automotive component supplier in the world. To bring our vision to life, we’ve made it our mission to create better life through automotive innovation for our customers,” says Kulkarni.
The company’s strength is its expertise in technology and understanding the customer needs, according to Kulkarni. With already established manufacturing plants and engineering centres in India the company promises to provide great experience to customers in all aspects from innovation, latest technologies, execution excellence through our unique corporate culture and employees with passion.
Key for Yanfeng is in its regional expertise and seamless alignment with all product development functions within the region.
Innovations and sustainability
For any successful enterprise in the automotive domain these days, innovation and sustainability efforts are very much integral. “We don’t just design and manufacture best-in-class vehicle interiors but also enhance end users’ on-board experiences. At Yanfeng, we have a global function for innovations. They anticipate the technology trends, conduct consumer research and work closely with customers in different markets for solutions for future interiors,” says Kulkarni.
Industry moving at fast pace
The automotive industry is undergoing disruptive changes. Autonomous driving, connectivity, shared mobility, and especially e-mobility, are changing consumer attitudes and demands for automobiles.
As a result, the company’s interior vision of the future is already reflected in the innovation demonstrator XiM 23 that uses interior experience modes to show the company’s broad integration capabilities, where digital technologies and innovations transform the interior’s features into a user-centric, luxury experience. It is the result of extensive research and development processes carried across different geographies across the globe.
For this to happen, the company identified five key aspects of luxury: Simplicity, Service, Personalization, Control, and Comfort. And moving forward India for sure is a potential market for those new technologies, reckons Yanfeng.