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CCO, VECV: Intercity Travel Has Picked Up Like Never Before

Kiran Murali — Sun, 14 Jun 2026 13:16:28

India's bus industry has crossed the 100,000-unit mark for the second time, and SS Gill, chief commercial officer at Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles, has a front-row seat to what's driving it. “Intercity travel has picked up like never before," Gill said. "And that continues to grow, which is extremely good for India."

In a wide-ranging conversation, Gill walked through the forces reshaping India's bus market — better highways, rising passenger expectations, tighter safety norms and the slow but steady arrival of alternative fuels — and explained why he believes the market could eventually double from where it stands today.

For years, the sector had remained largely flat, overshadowed by airlines, railways and the rapid growth of passenger vehicles. But that has started changing in recent years as better highways, rising intercity travel and improving bus quality reshape demand.

According to Gill, the industry’s earlier peak before the pandemic was around 70,000-75,000 buses in 2019. After slowing during COVID-19, demand recovered strongly, rising to around 87,000 units, then 98,000 units, and now crossing 100,000 units again.

The recovery is not being driven by one single factor. School bus services are expanding beyond large cities into semi-urban regions. Office staff transportation has returned as companies call employees back to workplaces. Tourism and private travel have also picked up.

But the biggest change, Gill said, has been the rise of long-distance bus travel. “People are looking forward to options of safer, comfortable, long-distance travel by buses,” he said. That shift is visible across India’s expressways and national highways. Routes that once involved traffic bottlenecks, railway crossings and endless stoppages are now becoming smoother and faster.

Gill says that the real improvement is not higher top speeds, but better average speeds. “Faster does not mean peak speed being more,” he said. “Faster means the average speed is higher. Consistent speed.”

The expansion of larger highways is quietly changing the economics of road travel. Overnight buses between cities that once took 14-15 exhausting hours are becoming more predictable and comfortable. Sleeper coaches, air suspension systems, onboard entertainment and app-based bookings are helping buses compete with trains and, in some cases, even budget airlines.

The rise of travel aggregators is playing a big role. Much like ride-hailing apps transformed urban taxi travel, online platforms are making intercity bus journeys easier to discover, book and track. “The same way taxis have been uberised…there are a lot of aggregators which are making it very convenient to make this travel,” Gill said.

The shift is not just about convenience. It is also about scale.For a country with crowded cities and rising congestion, buses remain one of the efficient ways to move large numbers of people.

Gill pointed out that a single bus can potentially replace more than 20 cars on the road. “It is actually good for sustainable mobility in the true sense,” he said.

Indian cities are struggling with traffic congestion, parking shortages and rising pollution levels. While electric cars attract most of the public attention around clean mobility, commercial vehicle companies say mass transport solutions have a bigger impact on reducing fuel consumption and road congestion.

The changing nature of buses also reflects evolving consumer expectations. Operators are increasingly shifting towards larger, premium coaches. Gill said heavy-duty buses now account for around 26% of the total bus market, reflecting the rise of long-distance and intercity travel.

But with higher speeds and larger fleets comes a more serious challenge: safety.

For years, India’s bus industry relied heavily on fragmented and often unorganised body-building operations. Chassis would be supplied by manufacturers, while independent bodybuilders assembled passenger compartments with varying standards of engineering and safety practices.

That model is now under increasing scrutiny. Gill said safety today is not only about making a stronger bus, but about ensuring the entire ecosystem, from manufacturing to driver training, follows proper standards.

“The biggest need today is to have safe and comfortable and convenient buses,” he said. According to Gill, Volvo buses had already prepared for AIS-153 safety norms years before they became mandatory in India. “AIS-153 were the norms introduced by the government of India in 2025, while Volvo buses were ready for it way back in 2019,” he said.

The company has also tightened driver training standards. Gill said Volvo buses are not handed over until drivers are certified.

Stephan Winkelmann: Plug-in Hybrids Remain the Right Answer for Lamborghini

Autocar Professional Bureau — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 13:11:30

As Lamborghini completes the electrification of its core model range through hybrid powertrains, the Italian supercar maker is reassessing the pace of full-electric adoption. Speaking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of Lamborghini Arena at Imola, Stephan Winkelmann, Chairman and CEO of Automobili Lamborghini, discusses India's growth prospects, the potential impact of the India-EU Free Trade Agreement, the rationale behind delaying the brand's first battery-electric model, and why design, performance and exclusivity remain central to the marque's future.

Lamborghini sold more than 100 cars in India last year. How do you see the market evolving and what is its long-term potential?

Until last year, we had a very good involvement in the Indian market. The development was very positive and we sold more than 100 cars. This year, we have to see. The situation is a bit different because we have new rules in the Indian market for import taxes, and we have to see if this is applying in a positive way for plug-in hybrid cars as well.

Do you see customers holding back purchases while awaiting clarity on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement and its impact on import duties?

It is too early to speak about that because we are now four months into the year. We have to see how they are going to behave because the rules have to be very clear. Then, I think there is an opportunity for further development in the Indian market.

There are significant uncertainties across global markets today. What is your assessment of the year ahead?

After the launches of the Revuelto, the Urus SE and now the Temerario, we said we have to reach a plateau in terms of growth because now we have renewed the entire line-up. For sure, all the things happening around the globe and all the uncertainties are not making a forecast very easy.

Lamborghini has electrified its core line-up through hybrid powertrains, but delayed its first battery-electric model. What is the rationale behind that decision?

We are working on a fourth model and this fourth model is going to be a plug-in hybrid car as well. Before, the idea was to have a battery-electric vehicle.

We have seen that in recent years, the acceptance curve of electric cars, especially for our type of segment, has been going down in terms of customer acceptance. So, we thought it was best to postpone this. We are continuing to work on our capability to develop full-electric cars, but for the time being, we think it is important to have the fourth model as a plug-in hybrid.

As customer expectations evolve, how do you balance Lamborghini's heritage with growing demand for technology and innovation?

You cannot survive on legacy. What we need is to have strong roots in history. We are in the territory, here today in Imola as well, in Emilia-Romagna, which is the region we come from, the Terra dei Motori. Our factory is very close to here.

On one hand, this continues to be paramount for success. But even more important is focusing on brand, technology and design development.

You always have to fulfil the dreams of customers. You have to exceed what they expect. We are not selling mobility; we are selling dreams.

Does the rapid pace of technological change make it more challenging to create products with enduring appeal?

For sure, we have to be very careful and we always have to pay very close attention to how technology is changing. But we also have to focus on those aspects which are key for Lamborghini, which are design and performance. This is not going to change in the future.

How do you ensure that today's products earn the same status as some of Lamborghini's most iconic models?

The future will tell. We can only do the best we can. The acceptance of those cars today is a good indicator of how they are going to be perceived in the future.

Scarcity on one hand and residual values on the other are also key indicators of how these cars are going to be seen in Lamborghini's future story.

Once there is greater clarity on the India-EU Free Trade Agreement and the regulatory framework, do you see India becoming a bigger growth opportunity for Lamborghini?

I think India has huge potential which is still untapped. Let us wait until the regulations are clear and transparent, and then we can focus on it.

“We Want to Cross $1Bn in Sales in Five Years”: Ganesh Mani, CEO, Switch Mobility

Mukul Yudhveer Singh — Sat, 13 Jun 2026 11:15:29

India’s commercial electric vehicle market is entering what Ganesh Mani believes could become its next major growth phase. While electric two- and three-wheelers have already established meaningful scale, buses and larger commercial vehicles are now beginning to see broader acceptance across public transport and commercial mobility applications.

For Switch Mobility, that shift is already translating into stronger order visibility, expanding deployments and growing opportunities beyond government-led tenders. The company recently facilitated Delhi’s first double-decker electric bus deployment, adding the national capital to a growing network of cities where its electric double-decker buses are already operational.

In this exclusive interaction with Autocar Professional, Mani speaks about the emotional significance of bringing the buses to Delhi, the economics of commercial EV adoption, why financing remains one of the industry’s biggest hurdles and how Switch Mobility is preparing for its next phase of growth.

Switch Mobility has become the first company to bring double-decker electric buses to Delhi. How important has this journey been for the company?

It is a very proud and emotional moment for the entire Hinduja Group, especially for Switch Mobility. We always wanted to see these buses running in Delhi. We had already introduced them in cities such as Mumbai, Bhubaneswar and Ahmedabad, but bringing them to the national capital always felt special for us.

Double-decker buses naturally attract attention. People immediately notice them, and when they realise these are electric buses, it creates a completely different level of visibility for clean mobility as well. So for us, this is not just another deployment milestone. It is also about demonstrating what modern public transportation can look like in India.

We are thankful to Delhi Tourism for agreeing to operate this bus. As the first bus, we donated it on behalf of the Hinduja Group. Going forward, we would genuinely like to see many more such buses operating on Delhi roads.

How many double-decker electric buses has Switch Mobility deployed so far?

We have deployed more than 100 buses so far across different cities. What is interesting is that these buses are not being used only for tourism or hop-on hop-off applications. They are also operating on intercity routes.

Some of these buses run between important cities and cover distances of around 130-160 km. The response has been extremely positive, both from passengers as well as operators.

Mumbai has already become one of the biggest examples for us, with more than 50 buses running there. We also have deployments in Bhubaneswar, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam and other locations. Every city gives us more confidence that there is a growing acceptance for electric public mobility in India.

How has the electric bus business evolved for Switch Mobility over the last year?

The EV segment is clearly moving upwards now. In buses, we are likely to finish with more than 1,500 buses this year, which is nearly double the numbers we achieved last year. Going forward, we will have to continue scaling aggressively.

The momentum is no longer limited to only one category or one geography. We are seeing growing conversations around electric mobility across multiple use cases.

In electric light commercial vehicles as well, the market is steadily evolving. Customers are becoming more aware of operational economics and long-term savings. That shift in mindset is important because commercial EV adoption ultimately becomes stronger when customers start evaluating lifetime operating benefits rather than only upfront acquisition costs.

At a broader level, Mani believes the Indian EV transition is now unfolding category by category. According to him, the strong rise seen first in electric two-wheelers and then in three-wheelers is gradually extending into buses and larger commercial vehicles as economics improve.

Your order pipeline also appears to be strengthening significantly. What is driving this demand?

The order visibility for next year is already looking strong. We have around 2,500 buses in the pipeline. What is changing now is that demand is no longer coming only from government tenders.

We are increasingly seeing interest from staff transportation, school buses and multiple commercial mobility applications. This is an important shift because once EV adoption starts spreading across these segments, the market becomes much broader and healthier.

Going forward, we would like to expand into areas where electric buses are still not very visible today. The more the ecosystem evolves beyond tender-driven demand, the stronger and more sustainable the business becomes.

What continues to remain the single biggest challenge for electric mobility in India?

Battery costs and upfront capital costs continue to remain one of the biggest challenges, especially in buses and commercial vehicles. The difference between diesel and electric vehicle acquisition cost is still significant.

At the same time, operationally, electric buses are already becoming viable. If you look at total cost of ownership, in less than four to five years an electric bus becomes operationally positive compared to a diesel bus. That is already a major change.

The important thing is how to bridge the initial financing gap. That is where financial institutions and newer business models will play a very important role.

A lot of financial institutions are now becoming more active in this area, which is encouraging. The ecosystem itself is improving steadily.

Does financing remain a bigger challenge than technology itself?

Financing is definitely one of the most important aspects. Charging infrastructure is another major area that still needs rapid expansion.

The government has already announced several initiatives around charging infrastructure. As the ecosystem develops further and becomes more charging-agnostic and interoperable, it will help accelerate adoption across the country.

That will also support wider deployment across different vehicle categories, battery capacities and applications. Commercial EV adoption cannot scale in isolation. The entire ecosystem has to grow together.

How do you see the larger EV transition unfolding in India over the next few years?

The transition is happening step by step. Two-wheelers started moving first, then three-wheelers. Now this is the phase where buses and larger commercial vehicles are beginning to move more seriously towards electrification.

India’s larger sustainability goals are also pushing the ecosystem in that direction. The focus on carbon reduction and cleaner mobility is becoming stronger every year.

At the same time, customers are becoming more practical in evaluating EVs. Earlier, discussions were mainly around technology. Today, conversations are increasingly around economics, uptime, operations and lifecycle benefits. That is a healthy evolution for the industry.

What would define success for Switch Mobility over the next five years?

We would like to cross the $1 billion turnover mark in the next five years. That would mean scaling to nearly four times our current size.

But for us, success is not only about revenue. It is also about expanding electric mobility into segments and regions where it is still limited today. We want to reach more customers across school transportation, staff mobility and multiple other commercial applications.

Once that starts happening at a larger scale, the transition towards cleaner mobility in India will become much stronger. We believe the opportunity ahead is significant, and we are preparing ourselves for that next phase of growth.

Castrol’s Growth Playbook: Rural Push, Synthetic Upgrade, and EV Readiness

Darshan Nakhwa — Fri, 15 May 2026 15:42:02

Castrol India is entering its next phase of growth at a time when the lubricant market is becoming more complex. Rural mobility is expanding, two-wheeler buyers are becoming more quality-conscious, urban consumers are demanding higher performance, and vehicle technologies are changing with stricter emission norms, E20 fuel, CNG, hybrids and electric vehicles.

For Castrol, this means growth can no longer come from a single lever. The company is looking to deepen rural penetration, strengthen relationships with mechanics and workshops, broaden its synthetic lubricant portfolio, grow premium brands in high-density urban clusters, and build early credibility in EV fluids and auto care.

Kaushik Vedula, Vice President - Marketing, Castrol India, says the company’s marketing role has moved beyond brand visibility. It now has to decode changing consumer behaviour, simplify product choices, build trust with mechanics and OEMs, and help the portfolio evolve with new mobility trends.

In this interview, Vedula explains why rural consumers are not merely price-conscious but quality-conscious, why mechanics remain central to lubricant sales, why Castrol is taking full-synthetic technology into more mass-market products, and how the company is preparing for a market where ICE vehicles, EVs, hybrids, CNG and ethanol-blended fuels will coexist for several years.

Here is the edited excerpt from an email interview:

Castrol India has delivered steady volume and revenue growth for several quarters. From a marketing lens, what is driving this momentum - rural penetration, premiumisation, workshop reach or stronger brand recall?

At Castrol’s scale, momentum rarely comes from one large lever. It comes from balancing the strengths that already work for the business with areas that offer clear future potential.

From a marketing perspective, the momentum is being driven by strong reach, brand trust, products tailored to consumer expectations, and the influence we have built across workshops.

Our core mobility portfolio continues to be a strong growth driver. Rural expansion is helping us widen our reach, especially in markets where mobility demand is still growing. But the growth story is not limited to bikes and cars. Industrial continues to be an important part of the mix as India’s manufacturing and infrastructure sectors expand.

We are also stepping into spaces such as auto care, which brings us closer to the end consumer and allows us to participate more directly in the ownership and service journey.

Marketing plays a central role in connecting all of this. At Castrol, marketing is not limited to communication or brand visibility. It helps us understand where consumer behaviour is changing, where new opportunities are emerging, and how the portfolio must evolve with those shifts.

A large part of the job is also to simplify complexity for the end consumer. This can mean helping a rural consumer choose the right oil or strengthening trust with OEMs. We are bridging innovation and consumer understanding.

At the same time, the role of the brand remains extremely important. In lubricants, trust is built over time through consistent product performance and everyday experience. Our responsibility is to keep that trust relevant as engines, mobility trends and consumer expectations continue to evolve.

Your rural portfolio continues to grow at high double-digit rates. What is changing in rural lubricant consumption? Are buyers moving up to premium products, or is growth still largely distribution-led?

The vehicle mix in rural India is changing rapidly. We are seeing more high-spec two-wheelers, tractors, pickup vehicles and small commercial vehicles entering these markets. As engines become more advanced, lubricant expectations naturally rise. Better engines need better protection, and consumers understand that link.

What is also changing is the understanding of value. Rural consumers are extremely quality-conscious. They may be careful with spending, but they also understand the cost of poor performance, frequent breakdowns and inconsistent product quality.

If a product delivers reliability and protection consistently, consumers are willing to stay with it. This behaviour forms the backbone of our rural growth story. Product experience, workshop confidence and long-term trust in the brand all play a role. Our wide distribution network supports this because availability remains critical in rural markets. Together, these factors are driving repeat preference and sustained growth.

Castrol has expanded rural distribution to over 40,000 outlets and added around 700 rural service experts. How do you decide which markets or villages to enter next, especially in areas with populations below 20,000?

We approach rural expansion through micro-market prioritisation rather than broad assumptions. Population size alone does not guide our decisions, especially in villages with fewer than 20,000 people. What matters is whether mobility demand and service behaviour can sustain the category in that village.

We start by studying vehicle density, vehicle mix and traffic movement patterns to understand the real demand potential. We then look closely at the service ecosystem because the purchase decision in this segment is still heavily influenced at the workshop level. Mechanic presence, capability and local influence are important indicators for us.

We also evaluate whether the market is commercially sustainable. Distributor reach, credit discipline and last-mile cost to serve determine whether the model can scale.

Every rural cluster is piloted before it is scaled. We test for sales velocity, repeat behaviour and service adoption. Only when the fundamentals are proven do we accelerate expansion.

Rural Service Express is deployed where it can unlock category conversion through training, reassurance and service quality. This helps us build wide and durable growth.

Castrol recently upgraded Activ and GTX to full-synthetic formulations across key viscosities. What was the thinking behind taking full-synthetic technology into more mass-market two- and four-wheeler products?

The relationship consumers have with their vehicles has changed significantly. Vehicles have always had an emotional place, but now consumers also expect higher performance and a smoother experience.

The operating conditions for vehicles have also become more demanding. Two-wheelers and four-wheelers now run in heavier traffic, higher temperatures and with evolving engine technologies. Naturally, lubricants must evolve as well.

That thinking led us to expand full-synthetic technology across key Castrol Activ and Castrol GTX viscosities. The focus was to improve rider and driver experience while making advanced engine protection available to a wider set of consumers.

Full-synthetic oils are usually seen as premium products. How do you convince a cost-conscious consumer or mechanic that the higher value proposition is worth paying for?

Consumers today no longer judge engine oil only by price per litre. They increasingly think in terms of cost per kilometre and cost per month. They value smoother driving, better performance and reliability on demand. That is the higher value proposition consumers are optimising for.

Mechanics are extremely important in driving this conversation. They trust what they can see and feel. So we try to make product recommendation simpler for them.

Clear product mapping and easier upgrade paths reduce confusion at the workshop level. They also help mechanics explain benefits in familiar language. This makes the decision feel safe, sensible and responsible for both the mechanic and the consumer.

Does the Activ and GTX upgrade mark a larger shift in Castrol India’s portfolio strategy, from mineral and semi-synthetic oils towards a broader synthetic-led portfolio?

Yes, the Activ and GTX upgrades signal a clear directional shift towards a more synthetic-led portfolio. But the shift is measured and calibrated.

We are aligning the portfolio with changing engine technologies, tighter emission norms and more demanding usage patterns. Newer engines need higher-performing lubricants than they did earlier.

In urban markets, Castrol has been focusing on premium brands and high-density consumption clusters, especially in cars and motorcycles. How different is the urban marketing playbook from the rural one?

The difference between urban and rural marketing is one of emphasis, not mindset. Our starting point in every market is the same. We look at the vehicle parc of the cluster and understand what promise the consumer has bought into with that vehicle. Our portfolio is designed to serve that promise.

In urban markets, consumers have higher exposure, more information and more options. So the focus shifts towards sharper differentiation and brand cues that signal performance.

We still work with broad strategic strokes centrally, but local teams add the final layer. Regional marketing teams adapt execution based on culture, media habits and mobility patterns. Local relevance becomes important in communication, media choices and community engagement.

In rural markets, trust, availability and workshop influence play a bigger role. In urban markets, consumers are often more involved in performance. But across both markets, the objective remains the same, staying relevant to evolving consumer needs and vehicle technologies.

The company has spoken about engagement with rider communities through platforms like Spirit of Unity and Road Trip United. How important are community-led campaigns now compared with traditional advertising?

Community-led campaigns strengthen traditional advertising; they do not replace it. Advertising still plays a very important role in building scale, visibility and broad brand trust. It ensures Castrol stays mentally available across markets.

Communities play a different role. They create deeper engagement by bringing together people who are passionate about riding and performance culture. Their role is less about reach and more about authenticity and long-term affinity.

This becomes especially important in premium and enthusiast segments, where identity and shared experiences matter. We want riders to know that Castrol understands their passion, their journey and their values, and that our association with them goes beyond a transaction. Communities, therefore, are a force multiplier. They add depth, credibility and cultural relevance to what we offer.

The independent workshop ecosystem remains critical for lubricant sales. How are you strengthening mechanic loyalty in an increasingly competitive market?

Mechanic loyalty has to be earned over time. In our category, relationships matter a lot. One of the biggest areas we invest in is capability building. As engines and technologies evolve, mechanics want confidence that they are recommending the right product for the right vehicle. That confidence directly impacts trust with consumers and helps mechanics build credibility with their own customer base.

Economics matter as much as capability. We focus on improving workshop throughput and earnings. We help mechanics run healthier businesses.

In the long run, loyalty cannot be built only through commercial programmes or discounts. It needs consistency–product availability, reliable service support, training, tools and recognition. All of these contribute to stronger engagement over time.

EV adoption is rising in two-wheelers and passenger vehicles, but ICE vehicles are expected to remain dominant for several years. How is Castrol balancing communication between future-ready EV fluids and its core engine oil business?

We balance this by anchoring everything on a single, consistent purpose: keeping India moving, today and tomorrow.

ICE vehicles will remain the dominant value pool for the foreseeable future, so we continue to strengthen our leadership in engine oils with focus and innovation. We remain relevant to new fuel realities, usage patterns and reliability expectations. This protects our core and reassures consumers and partners.

At the same time, we are preparing for the future with maturity and restraint. EV fluids represent a growth adjacency, not a competing narrative.

Our communication runs on two clear tracks. ICE communication is centred on protection, performance and dependability. EV communication is centred on efficiency, thermal control and safety.

In both cases, the message remains usage-led. We focus on answering one simple question: what problem does this solve for the customer?

How do you build consumer awareness for EV fluids when EV owners may not yet understand their importance?

Awareness in the EV space still starts with education because many consumers are only beginning to understand how fluids influence EV performance.

EV owners care deeply about range, safety and long-term reliability. Fluids directly influence these outcomes, even if consumers do not yet recognise it. So our effort is focused on making that connection simpler and more relatable.

For example, thermal management directly affects heat control, efficiency and protection of critical systems. EV fluids also contribute to battery safety. These are benefits consumers already care about.

At this stage, collaboration with OEMs and service ecosystems is extremely important in building trust. These are the pillars of this journey. For example, in 2025, Castrol signed an MoU with VinFast to explore making Castrol Auto Service available as part of the EV manufacturer’s after-sales ecosystem. Service networks shape belief at the point of care, and this example shows how we are taking Castrol’s EV story to people.

With E20 fuel, hybrids, and CNG engines gaining relevance, is lubricant marketing becoming more complex because consumers now need products tailored to different powertrains?

Yes, lubricant marketing is becoming more complex as powertrains diversify. But from a consumer standpoint, the expectation is still simple: they want the right product for their vehicle and driving conditions without feeling confused.

For us, this means working harder on segmentation, recommendation and communication.

The West Asia conflict has started pushing up crude-linked feedstock, packaging, fuel and additive costs. If price increases become necessary, how do you protect brand preference in a price-sensitive aftermarket?

We protect brand preference by protecting trust first. In a price-sensitive aftermarket, trust matters more than short-term pricing moves. We avoid blanket price hikes because they can dilute value and credibility.

Our first response is value engineering. We improve pack architecture, drive supply-chain efficiencies and optimise cost to serve across routes and formats to absorb inflation as much as possible. These actions shield the consumer before prices move.

When price increases become necessary, we approach the conversation with transparency and value creation. We do not just change the price without reinforcing the visible benefit.

Looking ahead to 2026, what will be Castrol India’s biggest marketing priority–rural expansion, premiumisation, synthetic upgrades, workshop engagement, EV readiness, or industrial and new-energy opportunities?

Our priority is to build sustainable and profitable growth while preparing the business for how mobility is evolving.

Our ambition is to strengthen and maintain category leadership. At the same time, we want to move in sync with evolving mobility trends and consumer expectations.

Rural expansion continues to remain a very important growth driver for our mobility portfolio. Alongside this, the business will keep moving towards a stronger industrial play and a more diverse auto care portfolio.

Marketing’s role will be to build credibility early through education, partnerships and the right use of innovation. Industrial and new-energy opportunities will follow the same logic.

In the end, we will continue answering one question for our users: why should they choose Castrol, and what is in it for them?

GoMechanic CEO: Our Strategy is Built Around Going the Extra Mile

Shahkar Abidi — Wed, 06 May 2026 17:50:29

In an email interaction with Shahkar Abidi, Co‑Founder and CEO Himanshu Arora, GoMechanic talks about how his company is well prepared to lead the competition.

Over the past 3-5 years, how has the average age at higher technical demands in areas such as EV battery first visit for vehicles on your platform changed as diagnostics, high-voltage safety and ADAS calibration, OEMs push longer warranties and AMCs?

Despite longer warranties and AMCs, we’ve seen the average age of the first visit move to under three years due to the wide range of services offered to our customers. That said, industry estimates suggest the independent aftermarket accounts for over 60% of total service value once vehicles move beyond warranty.

Given that OEMs’ factory telematics and connected platforms now control much of the fault‑code and health data, what concrete strategies are you pursuing to compensate for this information asymmetry?

We already have advanced multi-brand OBD scanning and professional diagnostic tools that are deployed across 1,500+ workshops, covering 550+ pin codes, all built according to A+ standards, enabling precise fault-code reading and complex electronic system diagnostics. While certain OEM protocols and security gateways remain restricted industrywide, we regularly update our tools and systems to stay ahead of evolving vehicle technology. Along with this, we are continuously investing in our technical stack and training our technicians, and we ensure genuine parts are sourced from authorised suppliers, building trust, reliability and a high-quality customer experience. Our focus remains clear, which is delivering a transparent, technology-led and dependable service experience that customers can trust, filling in for the major trust deficit that exists in the aftermarket.

As BS‑VI, hybrids and EVs push repairs away from pure mechanics into software, high‑voltage systems and thermal management, which parts of your current workshop network and service menu become non‑viable without heavy capex and training? How are you deciding where to build in‑house capability versus where to partner with Tier‑1s or OEM‑approved centres?

We are not just ready—but fully equipped for the higher technical demands in areas such as EV battery diagnostics, high-voltage safety and ADAS calibration, capabilities we built earlier and continue to strengthen. While EVs currently account for around 7–8% of passenger vehicles, our EV servicing segment has grown by 155% over the past year. With the necessary infrastructure and trained teams already in place, we are well-positioned to support a much larger share as adoption accelerates.

If OEMs are increasingly bundling convenience (pick‑up/drop), digital transparency and uptime guarantees into their own service ecosystems, what is GoMechanic’s differentiated value proposition, beyond price arbitrage?

We go the extra mile for our customers: While OEMs largely address standard warranty needs, our approach is built around delivering seamless, high-quality service using genuine parts sourced from authorised suppliers— along with service warranty from the very beginning. Furthermore, we provide top-tier customer experience with live tracking & status updates on our GoMechanic App, 24/7 customer helpline, personalised service buddy, quicker service response time, walk-in facility over and above the standard pick-up and drop services, warranty, membership programs, etc.

Looking ahead to 2030, to what extent does the viability of aggregators like GoMechanic depend on India’s policy choices around right‑to‑repair, data‑access standards and safety norms in the aftermarket?

By 2030, clarity around right-to-repair and data standards may shape how the aftermarket evolves, but we are already aligned. Over the years, our focus on building systematic processes through genuine parts sourcing and technical consistency has contributed to stronger safety and reliability benchmarks; if given the choice, a balanced, interoperable framework that protects innovation while preserving consumer choice would be ideal. That said, whether data remains closed or becomes more standardised, we will continue investing in our tools and technology, compliance and platform capabilities to stay ahead and provide customers the most transparent and trustworthy brand to rely on for their car servicing needs.

For Oben, IPO Size, Not Timing, Is the Bigger Question: Madhumita Agrawal

Anurag Chaturvedi — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:01:12

Oben Electric is eyeing a public listing in the coming years, but for the Bengaluru-based EV motorcycle maker, the bigger question is not when to go public, but how large a business it can build before that.

“The question is not whether we can go for an IPO, but how big we want to build the company before that,” Madhumita Agrawal, Founder and CEO, Oben Electric, told Autocar Professional. “IPO is a natural path to unlock value, but it is a new beginning, not an end goal.” The company indicated that an IPO could be at least four years away, with its current focus firmly on scaling operations, improving margins and expanding its market footprint.

Integration, Cost Discipline at Core

A key pillar of Oben’s strategy is vertical integration, with the company developing critical components such as battery, motor, battery management system (BMS), display and software in-house.

This strategy focuses on enhancing cost efficiency while retaining control over technology in an EV ecosystem that is still evolving. The company has already achieved contribution margin break-even, a milestone it attributes to tight cost discipline and its integrated approach.

“We are working across more than 400 components and continuously optimising costs. Either you optimise at that level or you build in-house to remove supplier margins,” Agrawal said. Going forward, profitability is expected to be driven by further bill-of-material optimisation and economies of scale as volumes increase, with the company targeting overall profitability over the next three years.

Dealership Expansion, Rural Push

Alongside cost control, Oben is aggressively expanding its distribution network to drive scale. The company currently operates around 150 retail outlets across 18 states and plans to scale this up to 350 stores within the current financial year.

A significant part of this expansion is focused on Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets, which the company sees as critical to the next phase of EV adoption. Oben has already entered 40 to 45 smaller cities, with early traction exceeding expectations. “Some of these markets surprised us. The buying capacity, interest and understanding of EVs are clearly there. These are highly aspirational consumers,” Agrawal said.

The company expects Tier 3 and Tier 4 markets to contribute around 20–30% of its volumes going forward, supported by a broader product portfolio, including its newly launched EVO electric motorcycle.

She added that service infrastructure will be key to winning in these markets. “Product gives entry into the market, but service keeps you in the market. For smaller towns, trust and service accessibility are critical.”

Tech, Funding To Power Next Phase

Technology remains another core differentiator for Oben, with a fully in-house software stack and increasing focus on AI-led features. The company’s latest product introduces features such as Smart IQ mode, designed to adapt to rider behaviour and improve efficiency. “Control over technology is critical if you want to deliver a consistent customer experience and stay competitive in the long term,” Agrawal said.

To support its expansion, Oben is preparing for its next round of funding, with a Series B expected within the current year. The company has raised around ₹300 crore so far and continues to invest in product development, manufacturing and distribution. “Automotive is a capital-intensive business with long gestation cycles. Continuous funding is essential until you reach scale and profitability,” Agrawal said.

With profitability targeted over the next three years and distribution rapidly expanding, Oben sees the IPO as a logical next step once scale, margins and market presence are firmly established.

For Oben, IPO Size, Not Timing, Is the Bigger Question: Madhumita Agrawal

Anurag Chaturvedi — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:01:12

Integration, Cost Discipline at Core

A key pillar of Oben’s strategy is vertical integration, with the company developing critical components such as battery, motor, battery management system (BMS), display and software in-house.

Dealership Expansion, Rural Push

Tech, Funding To Power Next Phase

With profitability targeted over the next three years and distribution rapidly expanding, Oben sees the IPO as a logical next step once scale, margins and market presence are firmly established.

Renault India CEO: CNG Rollout in Months, EV to Follow in 2028 as Part of Multi-Powertrain India Strategy

Autocar Professional Bureau — Sat, 18 Apr 2026 15:36:58

Unveiling its new mid-term plan under the FuturEReady 2030 strategy, Renault India intends to introduce seven new models alongside a diversified powertrain portfolio. Autocar Professional caught up with Stéphane Deblaise, CEO of Renault Group India, who shared insights on plans to add CNG, hybrid, and EV options within a short span of 18 months.

You mentioned dual-cylinder on the RGEP platform. What is the plan for CNG and when can we expect it?

I can tell you very soon. It’s a matter of months. We think that today around 22% of the market is about CNG, and we believe it is a very good solution because it is less expensive than gasoline. We will have the best solution in the market because we put the two gas tanks below the floor, allowing us to keep a full trunk for usage, which is an amazing solution for every customer. In addition, it is very useful for taxi drivers because they can put all the luggage they want. We will be the only ones to do so.

What is the calibration you are planning for the CNG powertrain? Will it be the 1-litre turbo with CVT?

I will not disclose everything today. Let’s say it is a one-litre turbo.

By when can we expect this to be introduced?

What I can tell you is that we are doing driving tests these days. We are conducting crash tests and calculations. We are well advanced in the project. As I said before, it is a matter of months, not years.

Was it a challenge to integrate this system, especially considering packaging and pedestrian safety constraints?

You are highlighting a very good advantage of our platform, the RGEP platform. It is an amazing platform in terms of roominess and the ability to fit a lot of things in a small space. As you know, Triber is the only seven-seater car under four metres. Thanks to this smart engineering, we were able to place these two gas tanks in a very safe way.

Will this dual-cylinder CNG technology also come to the Kiger?

I’ll let you imagine why I would do it on Triber and not on Kiger.

Will you consider CNG for Duster as well?

I will not disclose everything. Let’s speak about Bridger and the RGMP platform. The RGMP platform is the platform for Duster and Bridger. You have very different kinds of customers in India. They want diesel, gasoline, CNG, hybrid, and EV. These are very demanding customers. With the RGMP platform, we will deliver hybrid, CNG, electric cars, and gasoline, meaning nearly the full range of needs coming from customers.

On electric vehicles, when can we expect Renault EVs in India?

I said several months after the winter launch, which will be at the end of 2027.

The West Asia crisis has pushed EV sales in the country. Does that impact your decision-making?

You don’t take decisions depending on temporary issues. But for sure, it helps the market share of EVs increase. It helps customers understand EVs better, and it will help later to sell more EVs, even if the crisis is no longer there.

You have spoken about 90% localisation. Will that extend to EVs, especially considering battery cells are not localised in India?

As long as there are no cells in India, we cannot use Indian cells. We will begin with cells coming from another country. As soon as we can have cells in India, we will use Indian solutions. But we will not wait for that to introduce EVs in India. We don’t want to disadvantage our customers because some industrialisation has not been done yet. We have to offer the cars, and later, when localisation is possible, we will adapt.

How has the response been to the Duster so far?

It is just at the beginning. Word of mouth is very good. Everybody says the ride and handling are amazing, the turbo engine is amazing, and the design is amazing. Duster is back.

Has the West Asia crisis impacted your sourcing or supply chain?

We have put in place specific management on this topic because our supply chain is impacted. We have to avoid any issues in our supply. Until now, we have had no issues, but we are adapting. We are switching the plant to more PNG solutions than LPG, for instance. We are changing operations and adapting ourselves. Suppliers are also exposed, and we manage and help them if needed. Until now, it is okay, but we don’t know how long it will remain manageable.

Have you seen any impact on demand due to the crisis?

I cannot say clearly. It is too early. Maybe there is some impact, but it is not very clear yet. For sure, in the mindset of people, electric cars may become more relevant. This is what is happening in Europe, where people are thinking more about EVs due to such issues.

Exclusive: Bentley Targets 100 Cars per Year Milestone in India, Banks on New Set-up to Accelerate Sales

Hormazd Sorabjee — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:21:39

With a new National Sales Company structure, three dealer partners, and a sharper focus on pricing transparency, Bentley is laying the groundwork to scale up its India operations. Abbey Thomas, Head of Bentley India operations, outlines how the brand plans to move towards the landmark 100-unit mark annually, up from its historical highs of 60–70 units.

This aggressive roadmap comes close on the heels of the much-awaited India–UK Free Trade Agreement (FTA), which could significantly lower import duties for completely built units and reset pricing for ultra-luxury cars, thereby offering a significant boost to demand.

Abbey Thomas says that the company is aiming for the 100-unit sales mark in this financial year (2026–27). On the face of it, the target may appear ambitious, but the approach remains calibrated. It does depend on one caveat, which Thomas succinctly puts forth: “The 100-unit mark is achievable, but it depends on how quickly pricing becomes competitive.”

Under the new set-up, Bentley India’s strategy now rests on three key levers: streamlined pricing, stronger network control, and re-engaging its existing customer base. But the real unlock is expected to come from price reductions driven by the FTA. JLR India set the cat among the pigeons by announcing FTA-related price cuts of around 15 percent on its imports from the UK. It is logical that Bentley will follow.

With the new pricing structure awaited under the FTA, Bentley is taking a cautious approach to inventory. When Autocar India caught up with Thomas at the Bentley showroom, the limited number of cars on display stood out. But this, he insists, is intentional.

“There is clearly a wait-and-watch approach from customers today,” says Thomas.

Bentley is responding to this approach by aligning supply with demand at a time when customers themselves are understood to be delaying purchases in anticipation of potential price corrections once the FTA comes into effect.

A New Structure, a Fresh Start

Bentley’s shift to a direct NSC model, effective July 1, 2024, marked a clean break from its earlier importer-led setup. The brand now operates through three partners: Infinity in Mumbai, KUN Premium Cars in Bengaluru, and Bird Automotive in Delhi.

The move to Bengaluru over Hyderabad, traditionally a stronger ultra-luxury market, is a strategic one. As Thomas explains, customers are no longer restricted by geography. A buyer in Bengaluru can purchase from Delhi or Mumbai without any constraints, allowing the network to function as a unified national platform.

The biggest change, however, is pricing discipline. With a defined MSRP and a one-price policy across dealerships, Bentley aims to remove inconsistencies that previously affected the buying experience. Thomas notes that “there is no ambiguity anymore — we now have a one-price formula across the network.”

Backed by centralised global support in engineering, homologation, and logistics, the new structure gives Bentley far greater control over how it operates in India. More importantly, this structural reset is designed to position the brand for a step-up in volumes once pricing becomes more competitive under a lower-duty regime.

Three Dealers, Nationwide Reach

Bentley has deliberately limited its network to three partners for now, focusing on quality over scale. Each dealer is experienced in handling ultra-luxury clientele, and together they cover the entire country. Thomas believes that “three strong partners are enough to cover India at this stage.”

Aftersales has been given as much importance as sales under the new set-up. A new workshop in Navi Mumbai is already operational, while Bengaluru has separate retail and service facilities. This improved backend is expected to play a key role in building customer confidence. For the volumes it sells, Bentley believes this network is sufficient to support near-term growth and is instead focusing on utilisation and customer coverage rather than rapid expansion.

The brand has been around for decades. Bentley’s India car parc stands at around 1,000 units, of which roughly 400 are still active within the ecosystem. Instead of adding new stores and geographies, reaching out to these customers is a critical part of the growth strategy.

Abbey Thomas believes that “re-engaging existing customers is one of the fastest ways to drive volumes.” The company has initiated a centralised communication programme to bring existing owners back into the fold, highlighting improved service support and a more structured ownership experience.

Regulatory Realities

Like all import-dependent luxury brands, Bentley faces regulatory challenges. E20 fuel compliance has introduced delays in bringing new models to India, as certification is currently conducted in the UK. The company is exploring the possibility of local testing to reduce this gap.

GSR 870 norms, particularly around ADAS features, present another hurdle. Some systems designed for European conditions do not function optimally on Indian roads.

“Some global features simply don’t work in India the way they are designed,” says Thomas.

Bentley’s approach is to seek exemptions where possible or avoid bringing in variants where the customer experience could be compromised. While these are manageable, they continue to influence time-to-market and product availability.

SUV-led Demand, FTA Advantage

“India is an SUV market, and the Bentayga continues to lead our volumes.”
— Abbey Thomas, Brand Director and Country Head of Bentley India

The Bentayga continues to dominate Bentley’s India lineup, accounting for around 46–47 percent of sales. This reflects India’s strong preference for SUVs, even in the ultra-luxury segment.

It is also the model best placed to benefit from any duty reduction under the FTA, given its internal combustion powertrain, while electrified models may not immediately qualify under current terms. The Flying Spur remains the primary sedan offering, while the Continental GT and GTC cater to a more niche audience.

The Road to 100 Units

Bentley’s road to 100 units is not straightforward. It is closely tied to how pricing evolves.

“Today we can’t expand the base with the current pricing,” Thomas admits.

Under the present duty structures, the addressable market remains limited. However, a meaningful reduction in duties could significantly widen the customer base, allowing Bentley to expand the pie beyond its traditional ultra-high-net-worth buyer segment.

Even as there is an expected price benefit with the FTA, currency movements have added another layer of uncertainty to future pricing. “Pricing is the single biggest lever to expand this segment in India,” Thomas notes.

The intent, however, remains clear: pass on any pricing benefit to customers to drive demand. “We are not looking to maximise margins; we are looking to grow the market,” says Thomas. That strategy, if executed, could help unlock incremental volumes.

At the same time, Bentley is tightening its operational approach. Inventory is being carefully managed, and planning has shifted to a more flexible cycle in response to policy uncertainty. Thomas says that “planning today is no longer long-term — we are working on a half-yearly basis.”

For now, demand remains fluid, with buyers adopting a wait-and-watch approach ahead of potential price corrections. But Bentley believes the pieces are falling into place. If the FTA delivers on pricing, Bentley’s India story could be on the cusp of a meaningful expansion.

“The cars in the showroom may be few today, but the intent is to build for scale,” says Thomas.

(With inputs from Arushi Bhatia)

INTERVIEW: AI Safety is Far More Important in Car than a Data Center AI: Lars Reger

Mukul Yudhveer Singh — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 18:59:40

At a time when artificial intelligence is shaping the conversation around next-generation mobility, Lars Reger, Global CTO of NXP Semiconductors, believes that for a “rolling robot” like a car, being absolutely trustworthy, safe, and secure is far more important, and that only after these fundamentals are ensured does intelligence come into play. In an interview, he explains that the shift underway is not about making vehicles more intelligent in isolation, but about ensuring that this intelligence operates within a framework of safety, security and trust. In a detailed interaction with Autocar Professional, Reger explains why cars must now be seen as “rolling robots”, why the industry is moving from cloud-heavy AI to edge computing, and why cybersecurity will define the next phase of automotive evolution. Edited Excerpts:

We are not hearing as much about AI in cars today. Is something still evolving at the chip level?

There is a big difference between having tools like ChatGPT in the cloud and building a robot, a trusted machine, a rolling robot in that case, a car. When you ask something to a cloud system, it goes into a huge data centre, gets processed there, and comes back. But when you move into a physical system like a vehicle, everything changes.

For the robot, it becomes much more important to be absolutely trustworthy, safe and secure, because the moment it does something you do not want, it becomes dangerous. Energy efficiency then becomes the next layer, and only after that does intelligence come into the picture. As I said, for the robot, it is much more important to be absolutely trustworthy… only then is it about intelligence.

We are now shifting from these large data centre-based models into what I would call physical AI, robotics building. For that, you need smaller models, but you need to be able to trust them completely.

You describe cars as ‘rolling robots’. How does AI actually work in such systems?

There is a big misunderstanding in how people think about intelligence in autonomous driving. It is not like you take your son at 18, hand him the keys and say, you have watched driving for years, now go and drive. That does not work. We send people to driving school.

First, they learn the rules, then they learn how to apply them. That is not creativity, that is rule-based and deterministic. You have fixed rules. In Germany, you drive on the right side. In India, you drive on the left. At a red light, you stop. If there is a speed limit, you follow it.

Only inside these boundaries is there any room for flexibility. So what we are doing is boxing in the brain into a functional, safe and secure environment. That makes the robot. This is very different from asking an AI system to generate content or create something new. In a car, unpredictability is simply not acceptable.

There is a strong narrative that data is the new oil. How do you view that?

There is this nice saying that data is the new oil. It is not. Oil does not rot, oil does not become irrelevant. Data does. Every day, your eyes capture enormous amounts of raw data, but your brain processes only a very small, meaningful portion of it. The same principle applies here. Having all the data of an entire country does not help. What matters is having the right and relevant data.

That is where the science and the art lies. If you train systems with the wrong data, they will behave in the wrong way. And in automotive, that can become dangerous very quickly. You can create biased systems, systems that respond to the wrong signals, or systems that misinterpret situations. So the focus has to be on selecting the right data, training correctly and then validating those models before deploying them.

How do you see the balance between cloud and edge computing evolving?

A lot of what we are doing will move to the edge. We are already running AI accelerators with billions of parameters together with automotive microprocessors at very low power consumption. We are talking about around 7 watts. That is less energy than sending a question to a cloud system, processing it there and getting the answer back.

Now imagine billions of devices constantly sending data to the cloud. The energy required just for data transfer becomes enormous. That is something we simply cannot afford.

For many use cases, whether it is managing your car, your home systems or other devices, you can run these models locally, activate them when needed and avoid continuous connectivity. The cloud will still be there, especially for training and larger-scale processing, but a lot of real-time intelligence will sit at the edge.

With the move towards software-defined vehicles, does adding AI increase complexity?

Actually, it is the opposite. These software-defined architectures are a cleanup of functions. Earlier, you had many domain-based systems, powertrain, infotainment, connectivity, driver assistance, each with its own control unit. That led to a very fragmented system. Now we are moving towards central compute devices connected through zonal architectures. These central systems act like the spine or the cerebellum of the car.

You reduce the number of control units, simplify the software environment and create a more flexible system. With the right middleware, you can move functions between central and peripheral systems easily. It is similar to running the same operating system on different devices. You can shift applications back and forth without redesigning everything.

And where does AI fit into this new architecture?

You do not necessarily need separate systems for AI. You can integrate these capabilities into existing architectures as co-processors, as add-ons. That allows you to enhance the system without increasing complexity. You also get advantages in terms of data security because you can process data locally instead of sending everything to the cloud. At the same time, response times improve and systems become more reliable.

Cybersecurity is still not widely discussed in India’s automotive ecosystem. Should OEMs and suppliers act now?

There is no chance to build a connected device without cybersecurity. If you have an unconnected system, fine, but the moment it is connected, you need protection. The good news is that we already have many of the building blocks. The same technologies used in banking cards and biometric passports are being used in automotive systems.

Every device needs a secure identity, like a passport. A car can authenticate itself, communicate securely and prove what it is allowed to do. You need both hardware and software. Hardware gives you the anchor, software enables the system. One without the other is not enough.

Cars are increasingly becoming extensions of smartphones. How do you see this comparison?

I am always careful with that comparison. A car is not a smartphone on wheels. The smartphone is becoming a car without wheels. The risk levels are very different. With a smartphone, you are dealing with financial loss or reputational damage. With a car, you are dealing with physical harm. We think in what I call damage classes. You do not want to overrun a person.

You do not want your bank account hacked. You do not want your reputation damaged. That is why “trust your device” becomes so important. This applies not just to cars, but to all connected systems, whether it is a medical device, a home system or an industrial machine. If your fridge orders too much milk, you fix it. If your thermostat overheats your home, you adjust it. But if your car behaves unpredictably, that becomes a serious problem.

Your message for Indian OEMs and suppliers?

You cannot talk enough about cybersecurity. We are already working closely with Indian OEMs, including two-wheeler manufacturers, and I see a strong need for everyone to address this. At the end of the day, “you cannot sell a product that is not cyber secure.” If vehicles fail, if they get hacked or behave unpredictably, the trust is gone. And once trust is gone, it is very difficult to bring it back.

India can Close Testing Gap with Europe in Five Years: ARAI’s Nagesh Walke

Prerna Lidhoo — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 14:04:37

Testing infrastructure is the quiet engine behind India's ambition to become a global automotive hub. At SIAT 2026, the 19th edition of the Symposium on International Automotive Technology held from 27 to 30 January in Pune, it was front and centre. Dr Nagesh Walke, Senior Director at ARAI, spoke about how the symposium came together, the infrastructure India still needs to build, and the five-year window in which he believes the country can close the gap with Europe.

Testing, whether physical, digital or simulation-based, seems to be the real heartbeat of SIAT 2026. What did it take to get so many testing players under one roof?

Testing is the core of product validation, and product validation has become non-negotiable, both because of tightening legislative requirements and because customer expectations are rising fast. So naturally, every testing and service provider wanted to be here. We have dedicated pavilions for them, and they occupy the largest exhibition space at the show. But we also set up a separate pavilion, for the first time, specifically for advanced testing: ADAS, software-defined vehicles and AI-driven validation. That has drawn strong interest. There is also a pavilion for start-ups and micro enterprises showcasing their innovations, and a student zone where academic work is being presented directly to OEMs and visitors.

Part of the reason, surely, is that product cycles are shrinking. Is that compressing the focus onto testing?

Absolutely. Product development cycles have compressed dramatically. What used to be a sequential process, design, simulation, build and test, is now concurrent engineering. Simulation, component development and physical proving all have to happen in parallel. That puts enormous pressure on R&D infrastructure and on the speed at which testing can be turned around. The service providers here are showcasing exactly the kind of solutions that address that pressure, which is a big part of why the show is drawing so much interest.

And yet, some of the critical technologies still do not exist in India. OEMs are flying to Europe for a week or two of simulator time. What is ARAI doing to change that?

ARAI is building testing infrastructure that simply does not exist in the public domain in India today. Crash-test facilities, advanced battery test laboratories, ADAS proving grounds and simulators are either already developed or actively under development so that OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers can validate products cost-effectively without leaving the country. The goal is to support India's self-reliance in automotive development. And it is already beginning to work. Some of the facilities we have built are now attracting global users. Companies from Europe and elsewhere are coming to India to use them.

So when do we get to the point where no Indian OEM and no Tier 1 supplier needs to leave the country to test?

That is the goal, and it is a long-term one. Building infrastructure takes time. But we are closing the gap faster than most people expect. A number of capabilities that Indian companies used to have to source abroad can now be accessed domestically. The remaining gaps are being addressed, and with active government and industry support, infrastructure development is moving at a rapid pace. Within a five-year window, I believe we will be self-sufficient for all the advanced testing that the market requires.

Five years, then. Is that the timeline to genuinely compete with Europe on testing infrastructure?

Yes. And it is not just about matching Europe. We already have unique facilities where foreign manufacturers are choosing to come here. The government's customs duty exemption scheme has helped make those facilities attractive for global product development, not just for Indian programmes. So the direction of travel is already two-way.

SIAT 2026 is already the largest the country has seen. What does the next edition look like from where you're standing?

Each edition sets a new benchmark, and this one has done exactly that. The scale, the quality and the breadth of participation are all significantly higher than what we have seen before. The next edition will be larger still, and I say that with confidence, because the need for a symposium like this, one that brings every stakeholder into the same room, is only growing. India needs this kind of forum, and the momentum is clearly there.

"Technology Will Drive the Next Safety Gains": ARAI’s Reji Mathai at SIAT 2026

Prerna Lidhoo — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 13:32:48

The 19th edition of the SIAT 2026 ran from 27 to 30 January in Pune, organised by the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) in association with SAE India. It drew close to 285 exhibitors and around 260 technical papers, spanning everything from start-ups to legacy OEMs.

Dr Reji Mathai, Director at ARAI, spoke with about safety, powertrains, localisation, and what 2026 holds for the Indian auto industry.

SIAT 2026 is a big show. Start-ups, legacy players, India-specific solutions all under one roof. What are the highlights for you?

The pace of change has accelerated sharply. Earlier, the cycle was driven largely by emission regulations, which came every five years or so. Now a whole new set of demands is arriving at once consumer comfort, safety, and a surge of electronics and processors across vehicle systems. That's why you see so many collaborations at this edition: start-ups alongside established players, all trying to understand what's new and where they can contribute. We have close to 285 exhibitors and around 260 technical papers a rare combination of technology and its practical applicability in one place.

Let's build on two points you raised, safety and testing, and the growing role of technology and electronics. Going forward, what are the key trends in safety, and how will ARAI push that agenda?

Globally, wherever new safety regulations have kicked in, accident fatalities have started to come down even as vehicle volumes grew. In India, our fatalities are plateauing, they are not falling. So, the push is on two fronts. The first is regulation: Bharat NCAP 2.0 is on the way, and ADAS mandates are being tightened. Right now, we are at a level where driver-assist systems issue warnings and, in limited cases, intervene braking, for instance but full takeover is still ahead.

The second front is localisation. The volumes we are talking about are enormous. We need the sensors, controllers, and electronic systems to be made in India. That's where the real game-changer lies. To support that, we have set up an ADAS city — a controlled, repeatable test environment with standardised dummies and simulated scenarios. It lets OEMs validate products against Indian conditions far faster than road testing ever could.

And the ADAS city for OEMs to sharpen their testing?

Exactly. The technology and software for ADAS are largely available globally, but road scenarios differ enormously once you bring them into India. The ADAS city lets manufacturers adapt and validate much faster. On top of that, we have been capturing real scenarios across the country — a vehicle fitted with sensors has already covered 20,000 to 30,000 kilometres of Indian roads.

That data lets an OEM run a scenario on a desktop, check how its controller responds, and fine-tune it, no need to go out on the road every time. The plan is to make that database available to everyone so that the whole industry can tune its systems more effectively.

Is there a way to quantify the impact of these technologies — say, in terms of bringing road-accident fatalities down?

We can already map the trend: vehicle population has grown steadily over the past five years while fatalities have stayed flat — so, per vehicle, the rate is effectively rising. But the real impact of the current wave of technology will take another four to five years to show up in the numbers.

The nature of the intervention has changed. Earlier it was passive — seatbelts, airbags, safer brakes. Now there is an active, continuous dialogue between the system and the driver. That shift is what will move the needle, and we should start seeing it clearly by the end of the decade.

Moving to powertrains, there's a growing sense that India won't settle on a single answer. It will be a mix, much as the E20 programme borrowed Brazil's ethanol playbook. How do you see India's powertrain strategy shaping up, and what role does ARAI play?

It comes down to what a country is strong in. India is not sitting on large crude reserves, and the raw-material base for batteries is limited. But we have a vast agricultural sector. That's exactly why the ethanol story worked — we could scale it up alongside gasoline, with the OEMs, SIAM, and the government all aligned. Looking ahead, it will definitely be a multi-fuel landscape.

The volumes and growth rates we are dealing with mean no single powertrain can meet the demand. Which segment grows faster will depend on local availability and local needs. Delhi moved to CNG because of air quality; other regions may lean on ethanol or hydrogen for different reasons.

The automotive industry plan for the coming decade is still being worked out, and everyone is working backwards from the net-zero 2070 target. Energy strategy is at the centre of that conversation, and ARAI has been part of it at every stage — from E20 to EV certification frameworks.

Policy has to keep pace with that multiplicity. Hybrids, for instance, found genuine demand at the state level, yet central policy hasn't really pushed them. How do you see policy at every level keeping up with where the market is heading?

Central policy has to take a holistic view — it cannot pick one powertrain and ignore the rest. What the government has done is lay out long-horizon frameworks: PLI schemes with a seven-year runway, FAME with its own timeline.

The real mechanism that will tie it all together, though, is Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) norms. Once those are tightened, every manufacturer will know exactly what its vehicle mix needs to look like over the next five years: how many EVs, how much efficiency improvement, and what the CO₂ ceiling is. That gives the industry a clear, level playing field to plan against. I think the direction is right, and we will see more integrated solutions emerge.

Two years of incentive support doesn't give automakers much runway to plan an entire EV portfolio. On EVs specifically, do we need a longer-term policy horizon?

The initial benchmark set by NITI Aayog was around 30% EV penetration, after which market forces are expected to take over. Three-wheelers are already close to that — the total cost of ownership story is compelling, and penetration is strong. Two-wheelers are the next segment to watch; the economics are improving fast there too.

But the honest reality is that we are trying to replicate in five to seven years what the internal-combustion engine took four decades to build. That's not a fair comparison, and the ecosystem — charging, components, supply chains — needs time to mature.

The good news is that manufacturers are preparing: localisation is being prioritised, and dependence on government incentives is consciously being reduced, because everyone knows those will eventually phase out.

Around 40% penetration for two-wheelers?

Once that threshold is reached in two-wheelers, we are talking about a very large volume segment. The ecosystem will need to scale in proportion — more resources, deeper supply chains, and more robust systems. But the trajectory is encouraging.

Do you have any projections you'd like to put on the table at this point?

I'll leave the projections to the government and the planning bodies. What I will say is that the fundamentals are in place, and as the systems become more robust and resources scale up, focused penetration gains in each segment will follow.

Reskilling is another thread you've been focused on. As technology accelerates and regulations tighten, what will ARAI contribute on that front?

The approach has been to get ahead of the curve — ideally two years before a new requirement comes into force. When battery technology was ramping up, the Ministry of Heavy Industries stepped in with support, and ARAI was ready with testing capability when the industry needed it. The same happened with ADAS: by the time manufacturers started looking for validation tools, we already had them.

Now we are building a hydrogen cylinder test facility, because hydrogen is clearly the next conversation. The pattern is the same: watch what is happening globally, map it to India's roadmap, and build the capability in advance. That way, when policy or demand arrives, the infrastructure is already there.

Finally, three key trends that will define 2026 according to you?

2026 is short-term. The trends are already in motion. ADAS adoption will continue to accelerate. The alternate-fuel market will stabilise, even if the exact mix is still being worked out. And there will be a sharper focus on consumer education, particularly around driving behaviour — because without that, no amount of technology will deliver the safety outcomes we need.

Longer out, the big shift is toward software-defined vehicles. How much software enters the vehicle, and how well it is integrated, will determine performance and efficiency in ways we are only beginning to understand. And with that comes the critical question of data — how it is collected, stored, and secured. Cybersecurity, in short, is going to be a defining issue.

"ADAS Features will Eventually Become Common Across Vehicles": Dr. Reji Mathai, Director, ARAI

Hormazd Sorabjee — Wed, 11 Mar 2026 17:38:54

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems, or ADAS, are rapidly becoming part of everyday automotive vocabulary. Once seen only in luxury vehicles, features such as adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, and lane-keeping assist are gradually entering mainstream cars. The promise is simple but powerful: prevent accidents before they happen.

For a country like India, where road safety remains a critical challenge, the potential impact is enormous. India records more than 1.5 lakh road fatalities every year, making it one of the most dangerous road environments globally. For years, safety conversations focused largely on passive safety features such as airbags, crash structures, and safety ratings under programs like Bharat NCAP.

ADAS represents the next step: active safety systems designed to avoid accidents altogether. But there is a complication. Most ADAS technologies have been developed and tested in markets with structured traffic, clearly marked lanes, and disciplined driving behaviour. Indian roads present a very different environment, comprising dense traffic, mixed vehicle types, inconsistent lane markings, and unpredictable driving patterns.

Recognising this gap, the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) has launched the country’s first dedicated ADAS Test City near Pune. Spread across 20 acres in Takwe near Talegaon, the facility recreates Indian road scenarios in a controlled environment. The goal is to allow automakers to test, validate, and calibrate ADAS technologies specifically for Indian conditions.

The initiative was formally unveiled during the 3rd edition of The ADAS Show, attended by government officials, global OEMs, suppliers, and technology companies. The facility includes simulated urban environments, complex intersections, lane variations, and testing equipment designed to replicate real-world driving scenarios.

In this conversation, Dr. Reji Mathai, Director of ARAI, explains why India needed its own ADAS testing ecosystem, the role of data and artificial intelligence in developing autonomous systems, and how safety regulations like Bharat NCAP 2.0 could accelerate adoption.

He also outlines why ADAS technologies must be adapted to India’s challenging road conditions and why the journey toward safer, smarter vehicles may be faster than many expect.

ADAS is now becoming part of everyday automotive vocabulary. It is also seen as a key technology that could eventually become mandatory for safety. What makes this new facility important?

I can say that the response to this technology has been overwhelming. ADAS is something we are looking at seriously because it can help address the problem of road accidents and fatalities in India.

If you look at how things have evolved over the past four or five years, we have been thinking about how ADAS features should be brought into the country. One advantage we have is that India participates in regulation discussions at the United Nations level. This allows us to understand how other countries are adopting technologies and how much of it can be adapted for India.

But the objective is not just about creating regulations or issuing guidelines and saying that the requirements have been met. The outcome has to be much larger than that. That is where the thought of building an ADAS Test City came into our plans.

What you see today is still under development. However, once you see the facility and the trials conducted here, you will realise that the idea is to recreate real city conditions in a controlled environment.

Testing technologies abroad and then validating them here is something the industry already does. This facility provides another tool for manufacturers. Ultimately, the goal is that consumers should benefit from safer vehicles.

How challenging is it to develop or calibrate ADAS systems for Indian conditions?

If you look at how technologies are adopted globally and how their impact is measured, we have not always been the best example. Take emissions or safety regulations. In many countries, once regulations are implemented, you see clear improvements in air quality and a reduction in fatalities. In India, we see something different. Our air quality has remained at high levels, around 200 to 300 in many places, even though the economy and vehicle population continue to grow at 8–9% every year. It has not worsened significantly, but it has also not improved as expected.

The same applies to road safety. We still have around 1.5 lakh road fatalities every year. That shows how serious the issue is. So when you ask whether global ADAS technologies can be adopted here, the answer is not always straightforward.

Many of you may have already experienced this. Some systems calibrated for other conditions may not work perfectly in India. Customers sometimes find them intrusive or not well suited for local traffic.

If these technologies do not perform well, they will not remain a strong selling point in the future. That is why validation for Indian conditions is necessary. Our road environment is very diverse. Sometimes, regulations are not implemented perfectly. Traffic density is very high in many areas.

So we need mechanisms to test these technologies repeatedly in controlled conditions. This facility allows us to reproduce scenarios again and again with slight variations. That helps manufacturers test the reliability and robustness of their systems. I believe these tracks will be very useful in achieving that.

What kind of Indian driving conditions have been built into this facility?

We have tried to recreate many scenarios that are typical in Indian cities. For example, we have situations where four lanes merge into two lanes, which is quite common on our roads.

We have S-curves, multiple types of intersections, and crossings that are not always perpendicular. There are also parking areas where guided or autonomous vehicle functions can be tested. We have lane markings as well as sections without lane markings because that is something we often see on Indian roads. Essentially, any variation you want to simulate in real conditions can be recreated here.

We are also introducing testing robots and dummies. We are working on India-specific dummy objects, such as three-wheelers and auto-rickshaws, which are rarely seen in global testing environments. These vehicles are common on Indian roads, so we need to include them in testing scenarios.

There is also a large amount of data acquisition happening. Many OEMs are already collecting this data. At ARAI, we have also conducted around 30,000 to 40,000 kilometres of testing.

But we have observed that data collection challenges vary depending on the vehicle type. A truck behaves differently from a passenger car. The data requirements also differ. All these variations will influence how quickly we can adapt the technology and deliver reliable solutions.

Data and artificial intelligence are becoming central to ADAS and autonomous technologies. How big is the challenge there?

This area looks very attractive from the outside. Many people want to enter it. But when you actually start working on it, you realise the complexity. One of the biggest challenges is the volume of data. In just a few hours or a single day of testing, you can generate terabytes of data. Managing that data becomes a huge task.

You have to ask several questions. Where do you store the data? Do we have sufficient processing centres? Who owns the data? There are also privacy concerns. For example, data captured during testing may include faces or vehicle number plates. That information cannot simply be made public. So there are regulatory and privacy issues as well.

Another challenge is converting raw data into a format that engineers can easily use. How quickly can we process and analyse the information? This is where collaboration becomes important. At events like this, you see many stakeholders working across different aspects of the ecosystem.

In fact, this is the first time since the development of the internal combustion engine that we are seeing such a wide range of new players entering the automotive ecosystem. Many of these stakeholders did not need expertise in ICE technology. But now they are becoming important contributors to the future of mobility.

Do you think India will lag behind global markets in ADAS adoption?

There are a few factors that could help ADAS grow faster in India. One of the most important is infrastructure standardisation. At the UN level, there are discussions under WP29, which focuses on vehicle regulations and mobility technologies. There is another group, WP1, which looks at road infrastructure. In many countries that have advanced ADAS systems, these two aspects, vehicle technology and infrastructure, are aligned.

In India, we need stronger alignment between the two. One possible approach is to identify specific geographies or corridors where infrastructure can be standardised. If we demonstrate that ADAS works reliably in these areas, it will help build confidence.

When we proposed this project, we were asked an important question. The ADAS Test City required a significant investment of around ₹40 crore just for the test tracks. Traditionally, test tracks do not generate direct financial returns. So the question was: will this investment create value? The answer will come when we demonstrate that these technologies are workable in India. If we can standardise certain areas and activate ADAS functions successfully there, it will show the way forward.

Could safety regulations accelerate ADAS adoption?

Certification is often like a pass mark. It tells you whether a vehicle meets the minimum requirement. But it does not always tell you how well the vehicle performs beyond that. Programs like Bharat NCAP help push manufacturers beyond the minimum regulatory requirements. Features that are not mandatory can still be included to achieve higher safety ratings. With Bharat NCAP 2.0, which may come into effect around 2027, ADAS features are expected to play a larger role. Overall, it is a good starting point. Manufacturers aiming for higher safety ratings will naturally start including more advanced safety features.

Do you see a future where all cars in India have ADAS?

I believe the journey may move faster than we expect. The level of response we see today is already much higher than what we saw a few years ago. Vehicle-to-vehicle communication is likely to become an important development in the future. Imagine a scenario where a vehicle ahead suddenly brakes. Your vehicle receives that information instantly and activates safety functions. That kind of communication can enhance ADAS capabilities significantly. Sensor localisation and improved responsiveness will also play a major role.

We have already seen a similar evolution with airbags. Initially, vehicles had only front airbags. Later we moved to multiple airbags. Today, six airbags have become standard in many cars. ADAS will follow a similar path.

Whether you like it or not, these features will eventually become common across vehicles. The real question is how useful and customer-friendly they will be. Facilities like this will help ensure that the technologies are practical and relevant for Indian roads. And that is what will ultimately determine how fast they spread across the market.

Marposs Eyes India as a Top-three Market in Five Years

Kiran Murali — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 22:56:06

As Marposs sets sight on high-growth markets, India is emerging as a strategic priority in the group’s game plan. The Italian precision engineering company, known for its grinding, measurement and machine-monitoring systems, currently counts India among its top 10 markets. However, on the back of rapid industrial expansion, technology upgrades, the country is expected to be in the top three list over the next five years.

Cosimo Cereda, managing director of Marposs India operations, sees the opportunity here on two fronts. On one side, India’s industrial base is expanding in double digits, particularly in automotive and advanced engineering spaces. On the other side, manufacturers are moving up the value chain with tighter tolerances, better process control, and global quality benchmarks. For Marposs - whose solutions are for precision and defect prevention - that transition creates structural demand, not just a cyclical opportunity.

Electric mobility is a central pillar of this opportunity. The company is positioning itself to replicate in India the EV production solutions it has already deployed globally - from battery cell testing and pack validation to gearbox assembly and die-cast structural components.

At the same time, aerospace is emerging as one of the fastest-growing segments here, as rising domestic air traffic and localised production by global OEMs bring demand for high-precision solutions. Over the long term, semiconductor fabrication presents another opportunity with India looking to scale the fab ecosystem.

To support this growth potential, Marposs is working on a localisation roadmap. It plans to raise local manufacturing in India to nearly 50% over the next five years from 20% through the expansion of production and engineering capabilities.

Could you explain Marposs’ core business areas for our readers?

Marposs was created around grinding technology. Grinding is the final stage in metalworking for extremely tight dimensional accuracy. When a metal part is cast or machined, it is still slightly oversized. Grinding removes microscopic amounts of material using synthetic abrasive tools to reach exact tolerances, sometimes down to thousandths of a millimetre.

Over time, the company expanded into measurement systems that verify whether parts meet dimensional specifications, testing systems that validate functionality, and monitoring systems that check, every few milliseconds, whether machines are operating correctly. Together, these technologies prevent defects, increase productivity and ensure consistent quality. The idea is not only to measure a defect after it occurs, but to prevent it from happening.

In the automotive sector specifically, where do your solutions fit in?

In automotive manufacturing, our applications span across gears, engines, bearings, brake and clutch systems and increasingly electric vehicle components. For engines, we work on crankshafts, camshafts, connecting rods and engine blocks. In electric vehicles, we test battery cells, validate battery pack assemblies, ensure sealing of battery trays and verify electrical integrity. These are critical areas for safety and durability.

Beyond automotive, we are active in aerospace, train components, generators, pumps and globally in semiconductors. Essentially, wherever high-precision metalworking is involved, we are present.

How do you view India as a market?

India is growing in two dimensions - size and technology. Industrial growth is in double digits, which makes it one of the fastest-growing major markets. But what is more interesting is how quickly the technological gap is closing.

In the past, the focus in India was strongly on cost, often resulting in lower specifications. Today, India is moving towards advanced standards, including Euro 6-equivalent combustion technologies and higher reliability benchmarks. You now see companies operating at global standards alongside more cost-driven segments. The transition is happening fast.

How has the approach to quality changed over the years in India?

There is still strong price sensitivity. That is a reality. However, we try to shift the discussion from price to return on investment. If you compare two solutions - one that costs little but generates modest returns, and another that costs more but pays for itself quickly - the second is economically superior for an industrial customer.

Our systems may have higher upfront costs, but they reduce scrap, prevent defects, increase throughput and compress production time. That lowers the cost per part. Increasingly, customers now understand this business logic.

What differentiates Marposs from competitors in India?

First, presence. Technical products require close collaboration. We currently operate six offices across India. Being close to customers is critical because precision manufacturing is not transactional; it is collaborative.

Second, technological depth. At very high precision levels, alternatives are limited. In certain monitoring and metrology applications, there are a few competitors who can offer a complete range.

Third, our approach. We do not simply sell a measuring device. We provide a comprehensive solution. If a customer wants to measure a component, we evaluate the entire production line - monitoring systems, environmental conditions, integration issues - and propose a complete setup that works seamlessly. It is the difference between selling car parts and delivering a fully assembled vehicle.

What are your priorities for India over the next five years?

The first priority is excellence. We want to position ourselves as a problem-solving partner, not just a supplier of equipment.

Second, we want to expand into new-generation applications, especially electric mobility. Globally, we have installed EV production lines for major brands. As these technologies scale in India, we want to bring proven solutions here.
Third, localisation is a key focus.

How significant is localisation in your roadmap?

Currently, about 20% of what we sell in India is locally manufactured. Over the next five years, we aim to raise that to between 40% and 50%.

We already have a small production facility in Delhi. The plan is to expand it. This is not a greenfield investment but a scaling up of existing operations, with a larger plant, expanded design capabilities and more product lines in measuring systems.

Not everything can be localised. Certain high-precision products require specialised facilities. However, selective localisation improves responsiveness and can eventually support exports.

Could India become an export hub for Marposs?

Potentially, yes. Large industrial markets such as the US and Mexico could be served from India, depending on scale and global trade dynamics. However, our primary driver remains domestic growth.

Where does India rank among your global markets today?

India is currently among our top ten markets, around seventh. Within five years, I expect India to become our third-largest market.

What is the current size of your India operations?

India contributes less than 10% of global turnover. In absolute terms, our India business is between Rs 200-300 crore annually. Over the next five years, we expect this to double to around Rs 400 crore to Rs 500 crore, depending on industrial growth and market conditions.

What share of India revenue comes from automotive?

Around 40% of our India business comes from automotive. Interestingly, aerospace is currently the fastest-growing segment here. As air travel expands and global aerospace players increase local production and maintenance capacity, demand for precision systems rises accordingly.

Globally, automotive remains dominant, but aerospace has strong growth momentum in India.

What kind of investments are planned in India?

Our India headcount is around 140 employees. The main investment is in people. We may add 20 to 30 professionals over time, but more importantly, we are investing heavily in training and capability development.

To reach excellence, you must build a strong team. That requires sending engineers abroad, exposing them to global installations and continuously upgrading skills. The investment is not only financial; it is in attention and effort.

Do you have R&D in India?

Not yet. In our model, R&D is closely linked to production. As localisation deepens, R&D could follow. For now, our focus is on scaling manufacturing and engineering capabilities.

Which are the new sectors on the horizon?

Semiconductors represent a major opportunity. Globally, we are active in semiconductor applications. As India develops fabrication capacity, we expect to participate. However, the opportunity depends on which technologies are established locally.

If you had to summarise your India strategy?

We aim to build a high-excellence, solution-driven organisation that delivers measurable return on investment to customers. India is not merely a cost-driven market; it is a technology market in transition. We intend to grow alongside that transformation.

INTERVIEW- Renault CEO Cambolive: 'India Is Renault' — Targets 3–5% Market Share by 2030

Hormazd Sorabjee — Sat, 21 Feb 2026 14:36:12

The French carmaker is committing to accelerate product launches across multiple powertrains after years of declining market presence. This marks a departure from the measured approach that allowed competitors to gain momentum through more frequent model introductions.

The slower cadence of product updates made it increasingly difficult for Renault to maintain relevance in a rapidly evolving market. Central to this reset is an ambitious plan to introduce new models annually. The launch of the Duster facelift—now available with a hybrid powertrain option—signals the first step in this renewed strategy, underscoring Renault's commitment to regaining its footing in India.

The urgency behind this shift becomes clear when examining Renault's recent trajectory. In 2016- 17, the brand sold 135,123 vehicles and commanded nearly 4% market share, buoyed by strong demand for the Duster, which helped pioneer India's SUV segment alongside the Ford EcoSport, and the Kwid, which brought fresh design thinking to the entry-level space.

However, as SUVs emerged as the dominant sales driver, Renault's limited product range struggled to sustain its market position. Volumes declined steadily, culminating in just 37,900 units sold in 2024-25, with market share falling below 1%. Reversing this decline has become critical for Renault. Beyond the Duster, the company plans to expand its portfolio across SUV and passenger car segments, including a three-row SUV that addresses the growing demand for family-oriented vehicles.

The automaker is targeting a return to 3–5% market share by 2030. On electrification, Renault is adopting a measured approach, prioritising hybrid powertrains in the near term while keeping full-scale EV deployment as a longer-term objective. By the end of the decade, Renault expects one in three vehicles sold outside Europe to feature electric or hybrid technology. Edited Excerpts:

The launch of the new Duster has been done on a large-scale, in a way not seen before in the industry. Does this send a message about how Renault looks at India after a long time?

The message is very clear: Renault is India, and India is Renault. We have been present here for 20 years, and the Duster has been one of our most important icons. With this launch, we wanted to come back strongly - with the best Duster we have ever made. Best in terms of engines, including hybrid technology, best in connectivity with Google built in, and a design that resonates with Indian customers.

There was a gap after the last Duster, even though it was such a strong icon. What lessons have you learnt, and what will be different in this comeback?

The first lesson in India is speed. You need to bring products that are refreshed every two years. That is why, what we decided to do is to increase the speed at which we are developing our cars.The second important point is that this Duster is made in India, by Indians.

We are a global company with cross-car lines around the world, but we have adjusted this Duster to Indian consumer needs. Growth of hybrid technology and SUVs is important in India, and we decided to address this from within India. What we also demonstrate again is our strength in ride and handling. I can assure you the new Duster will prove we never lost our magic, our recipe, to make a very good, dynamic car.

You mentioned launching models every two years. Does this signal a more sustained product offensive for India?

It is important to be present not only every two years, but ideally every year with new models. We can do this because we have significantly increased development speed. We are moving out of a Europe-centric approach and leveraging strong synergies across regions. India is now part of a global network with Latin America, Turkey, Morocco and Korea. This gives us scale and speed. That is why I can tell you will see many new launches in India over the next two years, not only the Duster.

With recent tax changes, the sub-4-metre segment remains critical. Do you think a more Duster-like body style is needed there?

That is a very good suggestion, and we will work on that. I take your point seriously.

The hybrid powertrain was a surprise. You are working with Bosch. How does this partnership work, and will localisation increase over time?

You always have to adapt the model to the region. Today, there is no truly global car—only global platforms and cross-engineering directions. Electrification is one such direction. Working with Bosch allows us to reach more scale and reduce costs.

Ultimately, hybrid technology will replace diesel. To do that, it has to be priced right. The hybrid will be very competitively priced, and more importantly, the fuel consumption figures are exceptional.

With CAFE targets tightening and EVs gaining attention, what is Renault’s EV strategy for India?

EVs currently account for around 5% of the Indian market. We see hybrids growing, and traditional engines - diesel, CNG and others - remain important. Of course, we have to come with EVs, but we will announce that in due time. For now, the focus is hybrid first, EV later. That said, this car will also come with a 1.3-litre engine, offering strong torque and power, which remains very important for Indian customers.

Right now, Renault’s volumes are very small in India. What are your market ambitions going forward?

Today, we are at around 1% market share. The objective is now to gain traction through renewal of the line-up. A market share of 3–5% would be a good target. It is not a target in itself; it will be the result of doing our job well and bringing many new cars to the market.

A lot of OEMs are not looking at the entry-level hatchback segment. You have Kwid in that space. Can you detail your plans in that space, as well as in the MPV segment?

Kwid represents important know-how for us in India. For us, we have to grow with Kwid. There is still more life left in the product, and we will continue to develop it. The Triber is a very strategic positioning for Renault in India. Offering seven seats within four metres is something quite unique in this market. We want to maintain this positioning and keep this relationship with Indian customers for a long time.

What could be the impact of the India–EU trade agreement on Renault’s India operations?

This is very good news. The impact would work in both directions. We perform best in markets where we can combine local production with selective imports. India’s competitiveness can support Europe, and Europe can also add value to the Indian line-up. Smallvolume CBU opportunities could emerge, depending on competitiveness.

INTERVIEW: "EV Demand is Rebounding both in India and Around the Globe" - JLR's Rajan Amba

Prerna Lidhoo — Sat, 17 Jan 2026 19:40:50

In a candid conversation with Autocar Professional, Rajan Amba, Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover India, breaks down the realities behind the India–UK FTA, the company’s manufacturing strategy, the future of the Panapakkam plant and what lies ahead for the rebirth of Jaguar. From the rise of India as a global production base to the evolving psychology of luxury car buyers, Amba offers views on opportunities, misconceptions and the road to JLR’s next phase of growth in India.

How do you see the impact of the India–UK FTA in the short, medium, and long term?

The implementation of the FTA could be a minimum nine months, maybe 12 months away. So, the consumer should not be expecting anything till then. Having said that, 95% of our business is already local. So there is going to be no impact on those products. In fact, I would say, please buy now, because prices inevitably tend to go up year after year because of escalating costs.

So there’s no point in waiting. The pound is also appreciating rapidly. That leaves 5% of the business—our SV (special vehicles) business and special editions. Those are in our hands to import or not, keeping in mind the situation. Yes, we have orders, but it’s a small part of the business. So it’s business as usual.. FTA announcement does create confusion. Every time there's an announcement, everybody freezes.

Then the questions come. I don't expect people to believe it outright. In May, when this happened, the initial PR outburst in the press was incorrect. The narrative was that a 4-crore car would become half the price which is completely untrue. Slowly the narrative got corrected. We are not seeing any impact at the ground level, barring questions around SV pricing. It’s a very limited impact, and we have to manage it.

Could the FTA ultimately create a balance, lower customs duties for CBUs and attractive pricing for CKDs?

Exactly. In a way, it could help. We made the investment many years ago, and it has paid dividends, particularly in the last two and a half years. Who would have thought that India would be the first country to manufacture the flagship vehicle? India not only delivers very high manufacturing quality, but we also convinced the global team that India needs it and will benefit from it.

It’s a win-win. In the future, if we choose to start pilots or projects on smaller elements of localization, the FTA will benefit from year three, especially in increasing our SV and special-edition business. Whereas on the question of whether lower customs duties will discourage local manufacturing in India, I think it depends on the quota and the usage of the quota.

If the quota is exceeded, everybody will be forced to relook at it. It may be discouraging, but it’s only the UK right now. And we are already invested. I don’t think there is any other UK brand with volumes close enough to think of investing. If they were thinking, they might think again now, because the FTA allows them to import.

Do you see the SV and special-edition business expanding significantly?

Absolutely. These vehicles are Rs 3–5 crore products, but the SV business can really enlarge. We have the SV business, the market editions like Ranthambore and Masara and special editions like the Range Rover SV Black. Now, our partners can choose to craft an edition. Then we have bespoke editions that customers craft.

Currently, the dialogue happens between the customer here and the UK, but we are planning to bring SVO (Special Vehicle Operations) to India so these conversations and executions can happen faster. This allows us to provide an even more elevated experience to people who want to craft their own vehicles or own something unique.

Ranthambore and Masara are classic examples: One of twelve, colors never repeated, interiors never repeated. That’s what drives sales at Rs 5 crore. You’re owning something unique under the Range Rover umbrella and Range Rover is all about embodying magnificence.

What about using India as an export base? What’s the rationale behind adding another plant in Panapakkam?

It is happening but it's still a couple of years away. The rationale comes from the thought process that India is definitely a growth market. Using it as a base for exports is certainly a possibility. What I understand from the Germans, especially with the FTA, is that they want to bring down the complexity of importing 10–15 different models and rely more on CBUs, having one or two models aligned.

So yes, the opportunity for exports is a key part of the long-term strategy. Panapakkam is fundamentally a TMIL (Tata Motors India Limited) facility not a dedicated JLR plant. It will support both JLR and TMIL operations. It's being built to add capacity for future portfolios, exports, and manufacturing flexibility. India–UK FTA could potentially open export possibilities for vehicles made at Panapakkam.

If the FTA results in 0% import duty for UK shipments, vehicles made in India could be exported more competitively. But it’s too early to comment because global factors, from wars to tariffs, are shifting constantly.

Is the Panapakkam plant on schedule?

Yes. The plant is progressing as planned and remains on schedule with no intention to roll back or delay the project. The strategy is to begin with smaller volumes in Panapakkam, then transition some production from Pune as Pune reaches capacity limits. Over time, Panapakkam will take on more responsibility as part of a broader capacity expansion plan. Tata Motors Group is building capacity for up to 30,000 vehicles, anticipating opportunities such as potential 0% tariffs in the UK under the FTA.

What is happening with Jaguar’s global relaunch plan?

Jaguar’s global product launch cadence is still being finalised. While earlier timelines suggested 2026, there may be delays. But India will be a Tier-1 launch market, meaning it will get new Jaguar products among the earliest globally. The leadership expresses strong confidence that upcoming Jaguar designs will be stunning and mind-blowing.

Testing is underway, and internal optimism is very high. As far as pricing goes, a lot will depend on FTA clarity, market conditions, and EV sentiment. Decisions will be made closer to launch.

Is the EV slowdown a concern?

There is no major concern about an EV slowdown. JLR has already received 65,000 bookings globally for its upcoming BEVs, even before journalists have driven the cars. EV demand is rebounding both in India and globally, and luxury EV penetration levels have already reached 11–12%. This shows strong, sustained interest in the category.

The 5% GST is extremely important because it is driving luxury EV growth. It allows brands to price EVs close to, or even below, ICE equivalents, making them more accessible in the luxury segment. Any change in this rate would immediately affect competitiveness and could alter the momentum EVs are seeing today.

Why is India’s luxury market still small (~50K units)?

India’s luxury car market remains relatively small because of several structural factors. Consumer psychology still leans toward saving rather than self-reward and many potential buyers fear scrutiny whether tax-related or social visibility. The dealership and service network remains limited outside key metros and the overall market is yet to hit its true “tipping point.”

However, the Rs 1 crore-plus segment is growing faster than the sub-Rs 1 crore category. Pricing is not really a barrier in the luxury segment because aspiration matters more than cost. Customers buying cars priced between Rs 1–3 crore are motivated by brand value, luxury and experiential appeal not by EMI calculations or minor fluctuations in currency. At this level, emotional and aspirational factors outweigh financial considerations.

Is the luxury buyer profile changing in India?

Yes, the luxury buyer profile in India is changing significantly. New-age luxury buyers now include firstgeneration entrepreneurs, people from tier-2 and tier-3 cities, individuals experiencing sudden wealth growth and customers who may continue to live modestly but can comfortably afford aspirational purchases. The next phase of growth will come when India hits a stronger tipping point of aspiration.

Greater dealership and service presence beyond the top 20 cities will be crucial, as will reducing the fear around taxation. Continued high economic growth and the rise of new millionaires entering the luxury consumption cycle will also play major roles. When these factors align, luxury car sales could climb toward 100,000 units, a threshold the Germans have predicted for years.

TVS Celebrates 20 Years of Apache, Eyes Premium and Global Push

Darshan Nakhwa — Sat, 06 Sep 2025 19:08:06

TVS Motor Company marked a landmark moment on Saturday as its Apache brand completed 20 years, a milestone few Indian motorcycle brands have achieved. From its debut in 2005 as a track-inspired street bike to becoming a global name with over 6.5 million riders across 80 countries, Apache today stands as a symbol of performance and racing. "It's rare to see a brand sustain momentum over two decades. Apache has evolved into a global phenomenon and proudly reflects its Indian origins," said Gaurav Gupta, President, India two-wheeler business, TVS Motor.

To celebrate 20 years of the Apache brand, the company launched special anniversary editions of its RTR and RR series, alongside upgraded 4V variants of the RTR 160 and 200. Looking ahead, TVS sees Apache entering its third decade with renewed confidence and potential entry into higher-capacity segments. The company also sees fresh tailwinds at home, with GST reforms expected to boost demand during what could be one of the most buoyant festive seasons in recent years.

Here's an edited excerpt from the interview with Gaurav Gupta, President of TVS Motor Company's India two-wheeler business, and Vimal Sumbly, Head of Premium Business and Marketing.

Congratulations on 20 years of Apache. How significant is this milestone, and if you had to define the brand in three words, what would they be?

Gupta: This milestone is truly significant. It's rare to see a brand sustain its momentum over two decades. And it's not just about completing 20 years, but also about what Apache has achieved in that time. The brand has grown into a global phenomenon, connecting with over 6.5 million riders and establishing a presence in more than 80 countries. To sum it up, we have a global brand that proudly reflects its Indian origins. And when I think of Apache, three words come to mind: performance, passion, and racing.

As Apache enters its third decade, what is the broader vision in terms of new launches, technology, and displacement?

Gupta: Historically, Apache has pioneered several firsts in its segment from dual-channel ABS to other advanced technologies. These innovations have not only helped us engage with customers but also positioned Apache as a brand that consistently delivers "what's new" and "what's in it for me" from a customer's perspective.

Today, we offer a range from 160cc to 200cc across more than 80 countries. At TVS, customer obsession is one of our core values. We continuously study evolving needs and behaviors in a rapidly changing global consumer landscape. Whether it's premiumization, personalization, or shifting usage patterns, we adapt to stay ahead. With this approach, we won't rule out entering new segments or expanding our global footprint, and that journey will certainly continue.

With cleaner mobility solutions like electrification and CNG gaining attention, how does Apache balance its racing DNA with these emerging requirements?

Gaurav Gupta: We've always explored new technologies, new segments, and new geographies for our products, and that will continue. What drives us is the customer. If consumer needs evolve, our teams study them and work towards delivering the right solutions. We're fortunate to have close collaboration across engineering, R&D, design, and the front end, which helps us create engaging products supported by strong service.

It's difficult to single out one fuel type and say we'll only participate there. The landscape is evolving with many factors such as technology, policy, regulation, supply chain strength, and sustainability. All of these influence what we offer to customers.

We actively track customer profiles and product strategies across multiple brands, and Apache is one of the brands we are most proud to have built over 20 years. The journey ahead, we believe, will be even more exciting.

Recently, there has been a lot of talk about E20 fuel, and ethanol blending is only expected to increase in the future. Where does this leave brands like Apache in terms of performance?

Gaurav Gupta: Our current products are compatible with existing fuel offerings, including E20. We understand that migration will bring certain requirements and ground realities, but as of now, in simple terms, we are compatible with E20. In terms of performance, the implications are standard across most products in the marketplace, and that will continue.

While the Apache 160cc and 200cc models have grown strongly, the 310cc range hasn't kept pace despite premium two-wheelers gaining traction over the last few years. How will you strengthen Apache in this space?

Gaurav Gupta: The Apache family's trajectory has been very encouraging for us. Apache continues to grow within its category, which motivates us to keep investing and working on future opportunities whether that's exploring new segments, new geographies, or new formats. That journey will continue.

Vimal Sumbly: If you look at Apache, the 160cc to 200cc models mainly cater to youngsters and enthusiasts who want performance on the road. In the 310 series, we currently have two products. The RR 310 is already the number-one sports bike in its segment, and sales have been growing every month.

As a brand, we place a strong emphasis on the 300cc space and aim to own it. Together, the two products in this range have given us strong momentum. These are powerful, premium bikes, and they are our "hero products."

Even this year, from Q4 onwards, the 310cc series has shown healthy double-digit growth. At TVS, we are very retail- and Vahan-driven; we don't bill to stock but focus on catering to customer demand. Within that framework, we're seeing very strong traction. That is why we've continued to invest in this segment—if the products weren't performing, we wouldn't. The strong demand gives us confidence.

Have the recent GST reforms had any measurable impact on dealer-level inquiries for the Apache range? This is also likely to renew focus on the entry-level performance segment.

Gaurav Gupta: We are very grateful to the government for this move. It's a well-thought-out simplification and an empowerment initiative for India's middle-class customers. At TVS, we appreciate that it directly enhances buying power and makes motorcycles, scooters, and two-wheelers more accessible to consumers. This had been a long-standing demand to bring prices down, and it has been successfully addressed.

We were already looking forward to a strong festive season. Several factors pointed to this: encouraging monsoons, stable and growth-oriented macroeconomic fundamentals, and supportive repo rates enabling consumers to buy the products they desire, especially in our segment. The GST reforms have only amplified this momentum.

So, we are expecting a very active and buoyant festive season, and in fact, I anticipate the positivity extending well into the end of the year.

Q&A: Mahindra's Nalinikanth Gollagunta on Upcoming Festive Season, 'Bold' Design Choices

Darshan Nakhwa — Sun, 31 Aug 2025 22:48:54

Mahindra & Mahindra is in the midst of its most ambitious transformation yet, backed by a ₹27,000 crore investment plan, a new greenfield plant, new vehicle platform, and a sharpened focus on both electrification and global expansion.

In an exclusive conversation, Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO of M&M’s Automotive Division and Executive Director of Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd. discusses how the SUV maker is preparing for the festive season, leveraging digital tools to align production with real demand, and managing the transition from a supply-constrained to a demand-driven market.

He also shares insights on the company’s EV strategy under the INGLO platform, its approach to the NU_IQ architecture, global expansion priorities, and how Mahindra plans to sustain mid-teen growth in a muted industry environment.

Mahindra has announced a ₹27,000 crore investment plan, a greenfield plant, and a strong global push. How do you ensure that M&M keeps pace with the changing market dynamics? There also seems to be a notable gap between Vahan data and wholesale numbers; how do you read the current demand scenario?

I'll break it up into the first quarter and beyond the first quarter. If you take just the first quarter, first FY quarter, if you see, our Vahan growth was the same or slightly more than our billing growth. Our billing growth was 22%, our Vahan growth was 22.5% or something like that.

So, I want to keep that quarter off, because very clearly, our Vahan growth was keeping pace with that. In fact, in the last 6 months, our Vahan growth was slightly more than our billing growth. In July and August what you have seen is pure stocking.

For us, we are very clear about what we are trying to do. I'll go back to the first point you made, the sentiment in the market. That's an important aspect. I don't think anybody can discount that fact. Our view at this point in time from what we are seeing as signals in the market is that the festive will get some optimism back into the market.

And we don't want to lose the opportunity. We want to ensure that it goes off the shelf. So, in that sense, there is a little bit of a push from our side to make sure that we are ready for it. But we are calibrating in terms of where we are putting it. Which variants we are putting in and what we are doing. So, one of the things we have done over the last couple of years is a massive digitisation of our entire forecasting and sales pipeline through ConnectSys.

Mahindra posted strong growth in Q1 FY26. What’s your expectation for the festive season, given that the base in H2 is higher?

We stick to the mid to high teens projection. But let me answer the question in two different ways. Last year, the festival season we had very small (Thar) Roxx (volume) in it. This year, we have full-on Roxx (volumes) coming in. We have the fungibility to go all the way to 9,000-9,500 units just on Roxx.

That didn't exist last year. Thar Roxx continues to have strong traction. Secondly, our BEVs weren’t available last year. That's new capacity and new demand we have added. So, you can do the math. My average last year was 45,000 billings. To achieve mid-teens (growth), I need to do 6,500 extra units. Provided the rest of it stays where it is.

How is the rest of the portfolio performing?

The Thar and the XUV 3XO petrol capacity has grown. Last year, if you look at it, the government and the institutional business of Boleros were not that great. And, if you do the basic comparison, you start to see that Boleros have come back to the traditional level where they are at. So, that gives me some confidence. Scorpio is doing extremely well.

Scorpio N is going strong and that to me is a 14,000-15,000 units portfolio. The piece which needs a refresh is the XUV 700. So, there could be a little bit of numbers going down, but my Bolero, Scorpio N, Scorpio Classic is helping. The new XUV 700 will come in the fourth quarter. Overall, the base remains solid, and incremental growth will come from new introductions.

Yet, overall market demand seems muted. Do you agree?

For the industry, yes, demand is subdued. But, the way we look at it is that customers get excited when you put products out there which are exciting. It's a reflection on the OEMs rather than a reflection on the market. So, when we say it's a muted market, that’s because it's a muted launch scenario. Where are the exciting products? So, our view is that when the exciting products come, the market will get excited.

Any new launches for the festive season?

During the festival we don't have much coming in. But we have done some variant tweaks. We saw good traction on XUV 3XO Rev-X. And, we did some tweaks on Scorpio N, which is also helping us quite a bit. So, we are well set in that perspective. We might have a couple of surprises, but those are minimal pieces we will play around with, but not much for the festive. The big launches are lined up post festive season.

You’ve addressed EVs with the INGLO platform. With NU_IQ, are you now looking to cater to the core market where Mahindra doesn’t yet have a strong presence?

In larger vehicle categories, like 4.5-4.6 meters, we are in a bit of a unique place where we actually have three products, and they are in the same price band, but they cater to different segments. We believe the 4.3 meter segment is getting to a point where the customers are actually sophisticated enough.

There's a distinct segment which won't overlap. And that's generally where our products start to play out. Our products have character, but they also turn off some customers. But that's okay for us because then it helps me carve out a very clear niche. And if I'm able to put two products which carve out separate niches, I capture the market. Rather than putting one large volume product in the space and say that this is the product which will capture everything in that space. That's the way we're looking at it.

Last year you clocked 20% growth, and this year you’re guiding for mid-teens. What’s the long-term vision for Mahindra, say by 2030?

It's hard to predict what the volumes will look like. Our job is to put out products which excite customers and encourage them to buy. This market is different from the market 20-25 years ago when people held a car until they were forced to replace the car. This is a market which replaces when they get excited. So, it's in that sense demand-driven based on what your portfolio looks like. Our goal is to be the No. 1 SUV player by revenue market share.

Mahindra has spoken about global ambitions for years. But exports are still relatively small. Why?

If you look at the capacity that we are adding that says it all. We won't put capacity if we don't have conviction that we'll be 80%-85% of the business. The way we look at it is we would rather go slow and steady than going too fast and having duds in the market. We are doing it in a calibrated way.

We want to make sure every product lands well and does well. For the last couple of years we have seen good growth in exports. The challenge is people do comparison with the other global OEMs who do sizable exports out of India. Their brand is already built (globally). We have to do the hard work of building the brand and then sell. We want to do it the right way.

So, what are the priority markets? South Africa, Australia we heard. What other markets are on your radar?

The UK is definitely something we are looking closely at from BEVs perspective. We have products which help us there. There are some unique LHD markets like Chile and a few other places. which have an audience which appreciates our products. The Middle East is an area where we are starting to expand. We are also looking for good partners that we can play with sustainably.

So, we will take it as it happens. And even in places where we are present like South Africa and Australia, we still have significant headroom to grow. We have just gone from having one product to now having three products in these markets. We are yet to tap into the full market. XUV 3XO has been a great learning experience for us.

XUV 700 if you look at it, it was diaspora led growth. People came to India on vacation, saw the product, loved it, went back, saw the product there and started to buy. XUV 3XO is the first time where you see non-diaspora coming and buying the product. Which is a good sign.

Nepal and Sri Lanka have seen a dramatic change when it comes to electrification. The Nepal market has been captured by Chinese OEMs. And even in Sri Lanka, there's a lot of action. As a SARC country, and as a leading player with good presence, how are you seeing Nepal and Sri Lanka as markets?

Those are interesting markets. In some ways, adjacent markets to play in. By the way, we launched BEVs in Nepal two weeks ago. We'll see how it plays out. We'll continue to play and learn. But just from a headroom to grow, from the size where we are, we'd love to do well.

Chinese OEMs are the next benchmark for all of us. It's quite clear. I'm not surprised they are doing well and not just in these two markets. So, when we're putting out our products, we're looking very closely at these benchmarks. What we have to put out to stay as confident.

We will fight it out in the market, and let the customer decide. That's the view I have. But wherever I go, I want to make sure I have a right to win and I have an ability to stay in the market. So, we'll see how it plays out.

Could you elaborate on this digitisation initiative? How does it help bridge the gap between actual demand and production?

It's a work in progress. I don't want to say that it's solving everything. But it's already starting to show interesting trends for us to work with. At a fundamental level, what it does is on a monthly basis, my dealers now write down to the last detail what product they want next month.

So, I have a clear view of what each dealer wants. And I also know what the retail momentum for a dealer is and what he/she is selling. And then we look at it and say, okay, do you really want this or why are you asking for this? The new program helps us align production, manage parts commonality, and adjust for seasonality. In short, we can now plan end-to-end in a much more agile manner.

How different is this process compared to earlier?

A lot of this was done in Excel earlier and often after the fact. Now, we're able to do it ahead of the fact and we're able to use digital systems to figure out demand patterns or red flags that we're starting to see. We couldn't do it earlier at that level. The system was piloted over the last couple of years and rolled out two months back.

Does the platform leverage AI tools?

It has some aspects. A digital platform has been put in place and we'll get to the AI part. AI works only when you have a lot of data to play with. We're starting to get to a point where we can collect data from it. Just the digitisation gives a lot of visibility now. So, when I do my planning on a weekly basis now, if somebody says that I have a shortage of this product, I can instantly say that translates to A, B, C from a supply perspective.

And say that it's not just a shortage of the product, it's because of just these three components. Then the question is, instantly I can go back to the supplier and say, what can I do to make this happen? That agility is much more now than what used to happen. Earlier it would take two weeks. Now I can do it in a one-hour meeting. So, that helps move faster.

How has the response been so far?

Encouraging. The real risk is when the market shifts from supply-constrained to demand-constrained and OEMs miss the signal. That's when you get into real trouble. Because you are thinking, this is a supply-constrained market, so keep producing. And you don't know when that switch happens. Our system now helps us detect demand weakness at the variant level itself. So, then I can start to close those spigots off or put demand generation measures proactively.

But isn’t your primary data source still dealers and field executives? Do they have the ability to predict consumer demand accurately?

The primary source is the retail momentum–what is selling off the shelves and what is not. So, we are giving them all that data. We are giving dealers data about preferred products, variants, colors sold over a few months. We are also equipping dealers with historical sales trends during the festive season.

This data didn't exist for them in one place to look at. We are hoping that it leads to a point where dealers can start to make educated decisions. And even when they don't, we can look at data and say that you just put some order, but in reality, this is the number you need.

Tata Hitachi’s Next Act: Mining, Exports, and Electrification to Power Growth

Yukta Mudgal — Fri, 15 Aug 2025 12:38:26

Tata Hitachi is gearing up for its next growth chapter with three clear priorities: ramping up exports, deepening its dominance in mining equipment, and accelerating the shift towards electrified machines. The Rs 5,200-crore company plans to more than double exports over the next five years, assemble high-value mining trucks locally, and commercialise its first Electric-powered excavator in a near future.

These moves come at a time when the Indian construction equipment (CE) market is experiencing both rapid expansion and intense competition. Infrastructure spending by the government has pushed excavator sales to the 30,000–32,000 unit range, but the number of active players has surged from just four or five a decade ago to over a dozen today. Chinese brands, in particular, have shaken up pricing and credit norms, forcing established players to redefine their value propositions.

For Managing Director Sandeep Singh, these challenges are not new. They are the next phase in a journey of transformation he has led since taking charge — a journey that began with stabilisation and is now about strategic expansion.

From Restructuring to Revival

When Singh took the helm, the 40-year-old joint venture between Tata Motors and Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) was in the red. Operational inefficiencies, a scattered manufacturing footprint, and intense price competition were eating into margins.

Singh’s early playbook was about consolidation and focus: shutting underutilised plants, streamlining the product range, vendor base, cutting waste, and investing in brand-building and dealer engagement. With India’s CE market still recovering from cyclical downturns and government policy shifts, these moves helped build a resilient base. Within two years, Tata Hitachi had returned to profitability.

“The fundamentals were clear — build customer trust through quality and service, simplify operations, and strengthen our market position,” Singh says.

Defending Share in a Crowded Excavator Market

Excavators remain Tata Hitachi’s bread-and-butter, accounting for the majority of its 8,300 annual sales. The company holds a 23% share, down from 30% earlier, as more manufacturers — including Korean, Japanese, and Chinese brands — entered the fray.

In a market where price pressure is relentless and finance-led sales models are gaining ground, Tata Hitachi has leveraged its quality, service reputation, and localisation capability to remain relevant. Singh’s counter to Chinese aggression was to compete with them with value proposition on cost competitiveness while keeping product quality reliability intact.

“We’ve contained Chinese penetration in India because customers know our machines deliver higher uptime with low cost of ownership,” he notes.

Mining as a Growth Engine

Mining has emerged as a strategic high-margin vertical. Tata Hitachi now commands over 30% share in the mining excavator segment and is winning landmark orders — including 190-ton and 360-ton models worth over Rs 20 crore each, as well as hybrid-electric dump trucks.

The mining segment is seeing renewed activity on the back of coal production targets and large private-sector mining investments. Equipment reliability, higher utilisation and fast turnarounds are critical, giving Tata Hitachi a strong advantage.

The company also runs a certified refurbishment programme, extending machine lifecycles beyond 40,000 hours in some cases — more than the industry norm — which appeals to customers in tight financing environments.

Exports and Global Mandate

Exports, currently 500 units a year, are targeted to grow to 1,500–2,000 by financial year 2029. Tata Hitachi will develop and assemble models in India for the Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia — markets where Chinese brands are also expanding rapidly, and where cost-efficient yet high-quality products can create a distinct niche.

Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) has also entrusted its Indian arm with global product development responsibility. A new Global Technical Development Centre in Dharwad will hire 200 engineers in the next few years to design products for international markets — a significant signal of India’s strategic role in HCM’s supply chain.

Electrification Bet

While alternative fuels are being explored globally, Tata Hitachi is betting big on electric solutions. A locally developed battery-powered mini excavator is undergoing trials, with launch targeted in 12-24 months. Globally, HCM is also working on battery-operated dump trucks, with commercial rollout in 2027.

The electric CE segment is still at a nascent stage in India, largely constrained by cost acceptance and charging infrastructure, but export markets in Europe and Japan are already creating demand for zero-emission equipment.

“India will eventually see these machines, but our development work here will feed global markets first,” Singh says.

Sustained Investment to Build Niches

Tata Hitachi has been consistently investing Rs 100–150 crore annually, a commitment Singh says will continue in order to strengthen the company’s product niches and market reach. Recent spends include a new ED paint shop at Dharwad, integrating warehousing into the plant, and ongoing upgrades to manufacturing and service capabilities.

Policy and Industry Outlook

The proposed Construction Equipment, Material and Manufacturing Act aims to phase out older, more polluting machines and enforce stricter emissions norms. Singh expects this to boost both domestic replacement demand and export competitiveness.

With the CE industry expected to benefit from continued public capital expenditure, the next decade could see India rise as both a major consumer and exporter of heavy equipment.

The Road Ahead

For Singh, Tata Hitachi’s transformation is not complete. “This is a 24x7, service-driven business. Staying ahead means constant innovation, deeper customer engagement, and competing globally from India,” he says.

From a turnaround story to a growth play rooted in mining, exports, electrification, and sustained investment, Tata Hitachi’s evolving game-plan reflects both a sharper strategic focus and the resilience to navigate one of the most demanding construction equipment markets in the world.

"India Offers Not Only The Best Cost, But Also Great Brains": Marelli Electronic Systems President

Mayank Dhingra — Mon, 11 Aug 2025 16:36:53

As the shift towards software-defined vehicles (SDVs) gains momentum, technology suppliers are gearing to tap into the robust demand potential offered by the Indian market, which has emerged as the third-largest passenger vehicle market in the world. The country is also witnessing an accelerated adoption of modern technologies such as high-end infotainment screens, digital cockpits, and ADAS solutions. In this interview, Ravi Tallapragada, President, Electronic Systems, Marelli, reveals the auto component maker’s future readiness with its advanced range of vehicle electronics as well as zone control units or ZCUs that aim to revolutionise the vehicle E/E architecture of the future.

How do you see the SDV transition currently underway in the automotive industry? How is Marelli innovating in this domain?

The shift towards Software-Defined Vehicles (SDVs) is transforming the automotive industry paradigm from hardware-based systems to dynamic software platforms capable of new features and continuous updates. In this scenario, automotive architectures are evolving from distributed systems to zonal approaches. In zonal architecture, zone control units manage cross-domain functionalities, significantly reducing weight, cost, and complexity.

Consequently, vehicle makers are adopting different solutions, each with individual levels of investment and speed. As part of Marelli’s flexible business model focused on co-creation with our customers at their pace, we listen, adapt, solve and deliver - with a commitment to grow with them as their needs evolve.

At Auto Shanghai 2025, we unveiled innovative technologies and solutions for the software-defined age that follow this approach For example, we showcased the ‘ProZone’ platform, which is part of our next-generation zone control unit portfolio and consolidates autonomous electronic control units (ECUs) into centralised architecture, reducing overall cost and weight. They enable a truly software-defined system that can be upgraded over time.

How does Marelli plan to leverage its cross-domain expertise to deliver a cohesive SDV experience?

Marelli's cross-domain expertise allows us to deliver comprehensive SDV solutions that integrate lighting, interior electronics, powertrain and even more. In particular, the ProZone platform combines innovation and affordability, being able to manage body, lighting, power distribution, diagnostics, powertrain, thermal management, driving dynamics, and chassis.

By consolidating these elements into a unified zonal architecture, we enhance vehicle intelligence and personalisation, offering features that can be tailored to individual preferences. Moreover, we have a ready-to-offer catalogue of 300 cross-domains proven applications. These have been decoupled to provide vehicle makers with the opportunity to integrate them, taking advantage of Marelli's experience.

How does the company align its SDV roadmap with the electrification and digital transformation strategies of its key customers in India?

We are in close contact with several prominent vehicle makers in the Indian market to understand their vision as well as their unique requirements for the software-defined age, depending on where they are in their journey from domain-based architecture to software-defined vehicles.

We regularly share with them global market trends and our internal platform development activities to ensure close alignment. Based on the discussions with our customers and data from S&P Global (formerly IHS Market), we anticipate the first adoption of zonal architectures by Indian vehicle manufacturers starting in 2028, with mass adoption by 2030.

What is Marelli’s go-to-market strategy for SDV solutions in a cost-sensitive market like India?

Vehicle manufacturers in India are at different stages with respect to the launch of zonal architectures. Marelli sees that the coexistence of standard and legacy electronic control units (ECUs) with the advancement to zones is the best way to approach the market. Since many carmakers are eager to experiment while not yet fully adapting to a 100 percent zonal architecture, we at Marelli are a transition partner, accompanying OEM customers on their journey.

In addition, it has been crucial to empower our regional teams to take the lead on region-specific technologies and processes. At the same time, clearly defining global standards and balancing them with the necessary regional flexibility is essential. We have two R&D centers (Gurugram and Bengaluru) in India with over 1,000 engineers working on the latest technologies.

India offers not only the best cost, but also great brains. Our focus on cost and platforms gives us an advantage in the areas of technology, affordability and speed. We also leverage our partners such as LTTS, Tata Elxsi for scalability and for know-how in some emerging technologies.

How is the company placed in terms of local manufacturing of advanced electronic components in India?

Today we have several manufacturing sites in India that can produce advanced electronics, including electronic control units (ECUs) and displays. These existing capabilities can support customers adopting new E/E architecture products as well. We are also exploring the addition of more localised display manufacturing capabilities in India.

How does Marelli view the impact of US tariffs on the future of India's automotive components sector?

Regarding the subject of tariffs, we have a team in Marelli constantly monitoring the situation, which remains very fluid and unclear, particularly concerning automotive technology and related themes. At this time, we cannot provide much detail, apart from saying that we are keeping a close watch on developments hour by hour.

What role do ZCUs play in the evolution towards SDVs?

Zone control units (ZCUs) are crucial in advancing towards software-defined vehicles. This transformation reduces the number of electronic control units in a vehicle from 100 to less than 20, on average. Through our broad domain expertise, we can cover 80 percent of a vehicle’s software functionalities.

We have introduced an architecture combined with microservices for enabling and disabling hardware and software functions. This architecture is scalable to all vehicle platforms. In addition, Marelli already offers about 300 zone applications decoupled from legacy systems that can be easily integrated with third-party products. This dramatically reduces the time to market.

How is Marelli reimagining the in-cabin experience through software-defined capabilities with its cockpit ZCUs?

Marelli's zone control units go beyond just the cockpit domain. They are at the heart of redefining in-cabin experiences and allowing seamless integration and control of functionalities such as infotainment, connectivity, climate and comfort systems. Our zonal architecture enables customisation as well as personalisation and significantly enhances the driving experience.

From adjusting seating and climate preferences to selecting entertainment options, the zonal architecture ensures in-cabin features can be updated over the air, continuously improving and adapting to user preferences to provide a more comfortable experience.

What role is India playing in the innovation and R&D of new electronics and SDV solutions for Marelli globally?

Our technology and development centers in Gurugram and Bengaluru belong to our global hubs for the development of electronic components and software for the software-defined age. In India we take advantage of the availability of skilled engineers in our R&D centres and the ecosystem in Bengaluru, as well as our partners to implement our solutions.

What investments have taken place within the Electronics System division to support Marelli’s transformation into a mobility tech company?

When it comes to the allocation of investment funds and resources, we do what probably all well-run companies do - we look at the potential of new technology and make the decisions accordingly. Having said that, the software and hardware solutions enabling the SDV architecture are high on our radar.

We also use minimal viable products, sharing new technologies early with OEM customers. Together, we cocreate and enhance them for launch, allowing us to use our innovation budget more efficiently.

What is the company’s growth outlook when it comes to revenue from SDV platforms in India?

We will continue investing in next-generation architecture. In 2026, we’ll launch two zone control unit projects, making Marelli a top global supplier. By 2030, we estimate over 20% revenue growth in India from SDV platforms, especially for cockpit, display, and body electronics.