There is no denying that India has grown its stature among global regions as the next big manufacturing hub and has already established itself as a key software and R&D hub. The ZF Group sees significant growth opportunity going forward.
In his first virtual interaction with select Indian media, Dr Peter Laier, Member of the ZF Group Board of Management, and Head – Commercial Vehicle Solutions and Industrial Technology, who is also responsible for the India region as well as group-wide production said, “We continue to strengthen our workforce in India. We are supporting our customers in India as per their and the market demand.”
It was two years ago that ZF Group announced a new investment of 200 million euros (Rs 1,700 crore) in India, towards expanding manufacturing facilities, R&D and new product developments among others. At present, it has 14 entities (including 3 JVs), 10 engineering centres and 18 manufacturing units, which employ over 15,000 people in the country.
“We continue to strengthen our workforce in India. We are supporting our customers in India as per their and the market demand,” says Dr Laier.
When asked about the new trends in India, he said that in the passenger vehicle segment, there is a growing trend towards electrification, while in the commercial vehicle, AMT (Automated Manual Transmission), along with safety-related technology such as ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) or ESC (Electronic Stability Control) are being explored in some segments.
The increasing demand for safety tech in the PV segment such as airbags is being pushed thanks to regulations.
India to play a key role for ZF
The ZF Group in India has four focus areas – Safety, Electrification, Emission and Sustainability. It employees over 4,600 engineers who work on global projects around active & passive safety, electromobility, electronics, autonomous, chassis and powertrain across the wind, off-highway and automotive industry. It has R&D centres in Pune, Coimbatore, Chennai and Hyderabad.
Dr Laier pointed out that Indian engineering and innovation talent especially with a focus on cost optimisation could play a key role for the Group globally, “The India growth story is expected to be consistent for many years, and we see significant growth opportunity here for both engineering and manufacturing. The Indian engineering centres continue to support global projects, and we continue to explore our operations here for a competitive manufacturing and sourcing base for other markets.”
It is interesting to note that the German company sees India sales to reach 3 billion euros (Rs 24,000 crore) in the near term and double its CV products in the next 4 years.
Dr Laier believes that Indian engineering and innovation talent especially with a focus on cost optimisation could play a key role for the Group globally.
“The India growth story is expected to be consistent for many years, and we see significant growth opportunities here for both engineering and manufacturing. The Indian engineering centres continue to support global projects, and we continue to explore our operations here for competitive manufacturing and sourcing base for other markets,” he shares.
The German tier 1 supplier believes it is important to engage and work with the Indian automotive as the country has an immense talent pool, and provides cost competitiveness in terms of product development and manufacturing globally. India also provides stability as a potential supply base for the world.
India holds huge growth potential
At present, the APAC region provides almost 24 percent of ZF Group’s revenue, which is primarily led by China. While India comes second, it is still way behind in terms of absolute contribution.
But with significant investments fuelled by infrastructure growth, policies, and personal consumption, India could see massive growth.
On the other hand, the ACES megatrend (Autonomous, Connected, Electric, and Shared) are impacting various countries and vehicle segments on different levels.
Dr Laier explained that the adoption of electric vehicles and alternate driveline technology (for CVs) will be dependent on how fast the charging or refueling infrastructure could be developed. However, the triggers for the adoption of safety technologies are different. According to him, “there is a strong tendency that legislation will accelerate the adoption of new safety technologies. I believe it is important to have close cooperation with our customers.”
