Group CEO flags non-linear value upside as power and voltage rise; plug-in hybrids widen the addressable market
23 Jan 2026 | 505 Views | By Darshan Nakhwa
Auto component maker Sona BLW Forgings expects traction motors and controllers to be its highest-growth segment over the next five years, even as electric vehicle adoption remains uneven across segments. The company expects demand to strengthen as new programs start ramping up and the value per vehicle rises with higher-power ...
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Auto component maker Sona BLW Forgings expects traction motors and controllers to be its highest-growth segment over the next five years, even as electric vehicle adoption remains uneven across segments. The company expects demand to strengthen as new programs start ramping up and the value per vehicle rises with higher-power applications.
“The three-wheeler opportunity is big, and it is actually one of the fastest-growing, and hopefully, in the next couple of quarters, you will see the growth being even more solid,” Managing Director and Group CEO Vivek Vikram Singh said during an analyst call held to discuss the company’s October–December results.
“As the power and voltage go up, the value goes up non-linearly; actually, it goes up much faster, because of which I would say for the next five years, I would expect traction motors and controllers to be our highest-growth segment,” he said.
Singh said the company’s traction motor growth is being driven less by a sharp change in overall EV penetration and more by new programs going live. “EV penetration as a percentage of two-wheelers may not have changed meaningfully, but our new programs have started kicking in,” he said, adding that Sona BLW is also increasing its share of wallet with existing customers.
As of December 2025, the company’s order book stood at Rs 23,500 crore, marginally lower than Rs 23,600 crore in September 2025, with electric vehicle programmes accounting for 71% of the total, according to the company’s disclosures. Sona BLW added Rs 500 crore in new orders during the quarter.
The company added two new orders in Q3FY26, one from an existing customer for a new variant of an electric scooter, and another from a new customer for a hydraulic motor controller developed during the quarter. It said around one-third of its BEV orders are from European customers.
The company’s EV programs rose to 64 across 33 customers at the end of Q3 FY26, from 62 programs across 32 customers at the end of Q2. Of these, 33 programs are in production, while 31 are yet to enter production, indicating a strong pipeline for future ramp-ups.
Sona BLW also reported a sharp rise in customer enquiries during the quarter, with request-for-quotation inflows up around three times year-on-year. The company attributed the increase to financial stress among European auto suppliers and a reallocation of supply chains away from distressed players.
The company is also working on traction motors and controllers for four-wheelers and higher segments, and expects to share a meaningful update in six to seven months. “The four-wheeler bit is something that we are working on, and hopefully we can say something about it in the times to come. But yeah, it's closer than one would expect,” Singh said.
According to Singh, the four-wheeler segment presents a large opportunity for traction motors and controllers, as the addressable market expands beyond battery-electric vehicles. “Even if you take a small number of vehicles, and I know that for some reason we say that BEV is the only one that has a traction motor, but all plug-in hybrids also have traction motors,” Singh said. “If you add that total volume and multiply that by the value of the motor and controller, the addressable market is humongous.”
The company said it is still in the product development phase and has not secured a purchase order yet for four-wheelers and higher segments. “We are working on all segments, be it four-wheelers and above. Hopefully, in six to seven months, we will have a meaningful update for you,” Singh said.
Sona BLW has been following a phased approach to entering electric vehicle segments. It started with two-wheelers, then moved to three-wheelers, and is now working towards four-wheelers, which it sees as a tougher segment due to higher competitive intensity.
“We aimed to enter the segment last when we were certain of the capability of our product and the advantages we bring to the customer, and only then would it make sense,” Singh said.
Over the last few years, Sona BLW has expanded its EV traction motor presence in two-wheelers and three-wheelers. Singh said the company now aims to move up the value curve as electrification widens across vehicle categories.
Sona BLW’s battery-electric vehicle revenue share improved to 33% in the nine months of FY26, up from 30% in the first half, even though BEV revenue declined 14% year-on-year to Rs 795.4 crore, impacted by a weak first quarter.
“BEV revenue share improved meaningfully to 38% in Q3 from 32% in Q2 FY26 and represents our second-best quarter till date in terms of absolute BEV revenue and share,” Singh said.