Speaking at the recently held annual conference of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, AT Kearney co-head, Asian automotive practice Zafar A Momin said the strategic changes will have significant impact on the component industry, leading to restructuring of the supplier base.

In the 21st century, the consulting major sees greater role for system integrators and value-added parts suppliers. The number of direct suppliers are also expected to go down. For instance, in Ford Europe the number of suppliers have come down from 1,500 in 1990 to 300 in 1996.

The next century may well be dominated by a core group of "mega suppliers", said Momin. The operations of these "mega" suppliers will be global in nature. "They will be characterised by aminimum critical mass of $3 to 4 billion with huge R&D capability," Momin added.