Video - Rural India Powers the Aftermarket: ACMA’s Sriram Viji

India’s automotive aftermarket is undergoing a quiet but decisive shift, with rural India emerging as its next growth engine, even as vehicles become more electronics-driven and complex to service.

Speaking to Autocar Professional on the sidelines of ACMA Automechanika 2026, Sriram Viji, President-Designate of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) and Managing Director of Brakes India, said rising electronic content in vehicles is reshaping replacement economics rather than slowing aftermarket demand.

According to Viji, electronics integration across braking, safety and vehicle control systems is pushing up the value of replacement parts. What were once largely mechanical components are now embedded with sensors, controllers and software, making replacements more expensive and technically demanding. This, he noted, is changing the aftermarket’s value profile while raising the bar on skills and diagnostics.

Vehicle modification, meanwhile, is becoming increasingly difficult. Tighter electronic architectures and software dependencies mean even small alterations can affect safety, performance or compliance, limiting the scope for informal modifications.

Viji said OEMs have adapted well to this transition, aided by earlier shifts such as BS6 and connected vehicle technologies. That readiness is now extending into the aftermarket through structured service networks and improved diagnostic capabilities.

The strongest incremental demand, however, is coming from rural India. As vehicle penetration deepens beyond cities and parc ages in non-urban markets, replacement demand is rising steadily, supported by infrastructure expansion and sustained government focus on the automotive sector.

Industry platforms such as ACMA Automechanika, Viji added, will be critical in aligning suppliers, workshops and technology providers for this next phase of growth.

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