Without Sensors and Software Skills, Component Makers May Fall Behind: Tarun Garg, MD Hyundai Motor India

India’s automotive suppliers must urgently integrate electronics, sensors and system integration into their core strategy or risk being left behind, said Tarun Garg, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India, at the ACMA Excellence Awards and 11th Technology Summit 2026.

“If your roadmap does not include electronics, does not include sensors, does not include system integration, you have a challenge ahead. The industry may outpace you,” Garg said, delivering one of the clearest warnings at the summit.

According to him, the industry’s transformation is structural rather than incremental. For decades, differentiation in automotive manufacturing was defined by mechanical engineering precision, scale and cost efficiency. Today, vehicles are rapidly evolving into software-driven machines that continue to upgrade even after leaving the showroom through over-the-air updates.

“We are fast developing into a software auto industry that happens to put its software on wheels,” Garg noted, underlining how technology transformation is reshaping traditional paradigms.

In this new architecture, electronics content per vehicle is rising sharply. Sensors, control units, connectivity modules and system integration capabilities are becoming foundational. Garg urged suppliers to rethink their positioning in this evolving ecosystem.

“All suppliers should migrate from being just part suppliers to technology partners who can co-design the future with us,” he said.

He also linked this shift to supply chain resilience. Semiconductor shortages and geopolitical disruptions, he pointed out, exposed the fragility of efficiency without diversification. Deeper localisation and capability-building in high-value electronics will be essential to future-proof the ecosystem.

While India has emerged as the world’s third-largest automotive market, Garg stressed that sustaining and expanding that position will require suppliers to move beyond build-to-print execution towards innovation-led collaboration.

“Do not wait for an RFQ to start thinking about future technologies. Invest early so that when the opportunity arrives, you are not catching up but leading,” he added.

In the emerging mobility landscape, electronics capability will increasingly determine who leads and who gets left behind.