www.autocomponentsindia.com Vol 5 Issue 10
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COMPONENTS
J.D. Power tractor customer service study hones product, service quality Yukti Arora
INDIA
VOICE OF THE AUTOMOTIVE SUPPLIERS
West India is gateway of Auto industry expansion
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E DITORIAL
CONTENTS
Volume 5 | Issue 10
DECEMBER 2018
COVER STORY z West India offers diverse
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opportunities for automakers z Greaves Cotton backs OEMs with
BS-VI powertrains z Eaton offers robust, reliable,
efficient transmissions to customers in India – Shandar Alam
z
ARaymond India to set up new production facility in Chennai
z ZF India expands manufacturing
capability z Setco ready with clutches to suit
new regulations and trends z Gulf Oil continues growth
momentum z Cleveland CycleWerks to make
India-specific bikes z Piaggio plans to launch more new
products in India
06 | NEWS Mahindra Electric opens new facility in Bengaluru, launches Treo threewheelers Valeo partners with premier educational institutes Hyundai to invest Rs 70 bn Continental expands electronic brake systems capacity at Gurgaon plant PSA Group and Avtec inaugurate new powertrain plant in Hosur Visteon opens fourth India tech centre in Goa
14| CORPORATE Agility Fuel Solutions enters India with cleaner, long-range products
Bosch India brings smart solutions portfolio to mobility
42 | OEM Jayem experience in performance vehicles clinched the deal, Nagbhushan
45 | VIEW POINT J.D. Power tractor customer service study hones product, service quality
49 | ALLIED INDUSTRIES Durr Systems expands products range to serve various industries
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52 | BY INVITATION WATTs disrupt automotive industry
54 | EVENT Automechanika Frankfurt 2018 presents future range of aftermarket technologies
E DITORIAL EMPOWERING MSMEs
T AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013 Tel +91 22 43525252, Email us at s.bhargav@nextgenpublishing.net Executive Editor Bhargav TS Editorial Advisory Board H. S. Billimoria, Aspi Bhathena Web Editor Ashish Bhatia Correspondent Sricharan R (Chennai) Gunjan D. Bidani (New Delhi) Head - Design & Production Ravi Parmar Asst Art Director Ajit Manjrekar Production Supervisor Dinesh Bhajnik Publisher Marzban Jasoomani General Manager – North & East Ellora Dasgupta General Manager – South Girish Shet Deputy General Manager – North & East Chanchal Arora (Delhi) Regional Marketing Manager Salma Jabbar (Chennai) Marketing Manager Minocher Parakh (Mumbai) Manager Circulation - North and East Kapil Kaushik (Delhi) Subscription Supervisor Sachin Kelkar Tel +91 22 43525220 Apple Newsstand & Magzter Queries: help@magzter.com Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation) Srinivas Gangula (Hyderabad) Cell +91 09000555756
echnological advancements have been reshaping the manufacturing industry, including automotive. Vehicle features that we could only imagine 5 years ago are real now. Experiments with driverless vehicles are progressing. Electric vehicles are fast becoming mainstream, even in India. These technologies have created unprecedented opportunities to re-imagine the possible. This creates a case for traditional automotive manufacturing companies to collaborate with technology start-ups and create something new for customers. It also brings in competition from new directions. The changing landscape of automotive manufacturing presents an excellent opportunity for them to be different. India has a vision to be a prominent manufacturing hub. The country also aspires to derive 25% of its GDP from manufacturing activities by 2025. The manufacturing industry has to grow faster to materialise this vision and hit the GDP target. The micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) need special care as they are said to be the backbone of the industry. As a surprise package, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a support package of loans of less than Rs 1 crore being sanctioned in less than an hour. These loans can be accessed through a link on the GST portal. Further, all GST-registered MSMEs would get a 2% interest subvention for fresh and incremental loans. And for exporters who receive loans in the pre-shipment and post-shipment period, there would be an increase in interest rebate of 5% from the existing 3%. MSMEs with a turnover above Rs 500 crore would be brought on to the Trade Receivables e-Discounting System (TReDS) where entrepreneurs would be able to access credit from banks based on their upcoming receivables. While these measures are specifically aimed at increasing the credit access of MSMEs, the package for the sector also includeds several other incentives.
Territory Sales Incharge (Circulation) Vidyasagar Gupta (Kolkata) Mob: 09804085683 REGIONAL MARKETING OFFICES Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013 Tel +91 22 43525252 26 B, First Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Okhla Phase III, New Delhi - 110020, India Tel +91 11 42346600/78, Fax +91 11 42346679 Unit No:509, 5th Floor, ‘B’ wing, Mittal Towers, MG Road, Bengaluru - 560001, India Tel +91 080 66110116/17, Fax +91 80 41472574
With demonetisation first and then the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), the MSME sector had been left cash-strapped. With 65 million MSMEs in the country employing 120 million people, the sector is one of the largest in terms of job creation. The government’s recent announcement and measures help boost the growth of MSMEs, which will in turn help the overall industry sector. Bhargav TS Executive Editor s.bhargav@nextgenpublishing.net
Cenetoph Elite, No.5, Cenetoph 1st street, Teynampet, Chennai - 600018, India Tel +91 044 421-08-421/044 421-75-421 Devendra Mehta - Mob No.- 09714913234 Ahmedabad 201 Gera Serenity, North Main road, Koregaon Park, Pune - 411001. Tel + 91 20 26830465
Views and opinions expressed in the magazine are not necessarily those of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. does not take responsibility for returning unsolicited manuscripts, photographs or other material. All material published in Auto Components India is copyright and no part of the magazine may be reproduced in part or full without the express prior written permission of the publisher Printed by Marzban Jasoomani Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013. Published by Marzban Jasoomani on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E), Mumbai - 400 013. Printed at Spring Graphics, 215 & 238, Shah & Nahar Industrial Estate, Sun Mill Compund, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai 400013, India. Published at Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Mafatlal Chambers B, Ground Floor, N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel (E),Mumbai - 400 013
All readers are recommended to make their own independent enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering into commitments in relation to any advertisement appearing in the publication. Auto Components India does not vouch for any claims made by advertisers for their products and services. The editor, publisher, printer and employees of the publication shall not be held liable for any consequence in the events of such claims not being honoured by the advertisers. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Mumbai only.
Editor Bhargav TS
N EWS Mahindra Electric opens new facility in Bengaluru, launches Treo three-wheelers
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ahindra Electric Mobility Ltd, part of the Mahindra Group, has dedicated to the country its first Electric Technology Manufacturing Hub in Bengaluru. This new hub is based on Mahindra’s Future of Mobility vision of producing clean, connected and convenient vehicles. The new facility, set up with an investment of Rs 100 crore, is expected to revolutionise the way electric vehicle technology would be used in India. Branded under the umbrella of +ME technologies, the facility will manufacture battery packs, power electronics and motor assembly which are integral part of an electric power train. The plant uses global standards of manufacturing processes and will increase the manufacturing of Mahindra Electric to 25,000 units per annum. The facility will create additional direct employment of around 200 people and some more through the allied services, in the state of Karnataka. The company also rolled out its first lithium ion electric three-wheeler range Treo and Treo Yaari, priced at
Rs 1.36 lakh ex-showroom Bengaluru, including the FAME subsidy. “As the pioneers of electric mobility in India, Mahindra is poised to be at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution while spearheading the endeavour through its range of clean mobility solutions. This manufacturing hub is the next step by Mahindra in the electric technology space to increase local value addition and bring affordable EV technology to redefine mobility in India. We are proud to launch Treo, the first Li-ion threewheeler auto developed in India. The government of Karnataka has been very supportive in this initiative with its progressive policy framework for EVs. It has always supported accelerated adoption of EVs in the state,” Dr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd and Chairman, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd, said. According to Mahesh Babu, CEO Mahindra Electric, “At Mahindra Electric, our aim is to bring about a monumental change in the way India moves by enabling more EV
Mahesh Babu, CEO, Mahindra Electric and Dr Pawan Goenka, Managing Director, Mahindra and Mahindra and Chairman, Mahindra Electric Mobility Ltd
The Treo range of electric threewheelers uses Mahindra Electric’s home grown powertrain and maintenance-free Lithium ion battery. The variants include Treo electric auto and Treo Yaari electric rickshaw, both available in the industry first hard top weather proof variants. With the use of exceptional light weighting technologies and composite body panels, the Treo boasts of a certified range of 170 km (eAuto), directly addressing range anxiety in the market. It also offers the best in class comfort for passengers with one of the most spacious interiors in the segment and for the driver through its clutch-less, noiseless and vibration free drive, thereby reducing the overall fatigue of the journey. The Treo range is built on an indigenously developed common platform to serve market demands as they scale up. Initially, these vehicles will be available at select dealerships across Bengaluru and Hyderabad and later in other cities in phases. ACI
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products on the road through our +ME technology solutions. Reiterating our strong faith in EVs we have now invested in technologies that are core to EVs and have set up manufacturing of battery packs, motors, power electronics etc. in our new facility in Bengaluru. The government of Karnataka has been extremely supportive of this initiative. Driven by the same +ME technology, we are also proud to roll out the first Treo. Built on India’s first Lithium ion three-wheeler platform, we are confident that Treo will transform the way urban India travels.”
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N EWS Valeo partners with premier educational institutes
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aleo, the global automotive technology supplier, has launched an IndustryAcademia Connect programme to attract the best talents. As part of this, Valeo has signed Memorandum of Understanding with multiple premier educational institutes - Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Loyola ICAM College of Engineering & Technology (LICET), and Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay. This focused programme is expected to help Valeo to tap into the bright engineering minds for innovative ideas to address the emerging mobility needs. Through experiential learning opportunities and mentoring, Valeo will also support them to become industry-ready professionals, by the time they step out of the institutes. Ashok Belani, Group President and Managing Director, Valeo, India, said, “I am happy that we would be able to nurture bright young engineers and support them to become industry-ready professionals through direct exposure to Valeo’s latest international processes and technology and mentoring provided by our experts. India is a key market for Valeo and the R&D facility set-up in Chennai is emerging as a global hub, contributing significantly to all Valeo customers across the world. We are scaling up our R&D operations and will be increasing the headcount to 5,000 engineers
by 2023. I am confident that through these Industry-Academia Connect initiatives, Valeo would be able to recruit the best from the engineering talent pool available in the country.” In the VIT campus Valeo will establish a Center of Excellence to support students and research scholars in automotive research, especially in powertrain, safety, power electronics and infotainment. Valeo will also initiate joint research projects along with VIT on emerging technologies and will work closely with the students to identify and nurture new ideas and develop workable solutions to address industry specific needs. The MoU between Valeo and LICET will enable both the organizations to work together in areas of common interests such as Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Communication Engineering and Computer Science and Information Technology. Valeo will provide the students with hands on experimental learning opportunities and equip them with the right skill-sets to work with the emerging auto technologies. As part of the MoU, select students will be given opportunities to work at Valeo sites across the globe. Valeo has joined hands with the Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT
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Bombay, for the second edition of “Plugin”, a collaborative accelerator programme. Plugin is a joint initiative of SINE-IIT Bombay, Intel India and Department of Science & Technology and it provides mentoring, training along with networking opportunities for start-ups. As Plugin’s “Corporate Collaborator”, Valeo will get early access to SINE’s start-ups and innovators working in the transportation domain andit will support these chosen start-ups with technical training, technical expertise, access to the protosuppliers and manufacturing process expertise. In addition to the above, Valeo, along with ShARE has initiated a “Student Ambassador Programme” in India. As part of the programme, students from premier Indian institutes - Indian Institute of Technology Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Roorkee and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - are chosen as student ambassadors, who will work specifically to create awareness for Valeo and its technologies among the student community. In return, Valeo will provide content and consulting missions to the students. ShARE (www.share-share.org) is a global organisation that connects students from the best colleges and universities and the chosen students are trained and mentored by corporate executives. ACI
NEWS
Hyundai India to invest Rs 70 bn
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yundai Motor India Ltd (HMIL), part of the Korean auto major Hyundai Motor, will sign a MoU with the Tamil Nadu Government in January 2019 to invest Rs 70 billion. Y K Koo, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, together with B C Datta, Vice President (Corporate Affairs), and N Ramesh, Assistant Vice President (Finance) of Hyundai Motor India Limited, have met Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswamy in Chennai in this regard. Datta said that the purpose of the
expanded to 8 lakh, including 50,000 CKD and another 50,000 CBU. The proposed investment also includes development of electric vehicles. The additional investment will create 700 new jobs, Datta said.
meeting was to explain to the Chief Minister about the new investment and to seek the Government support through tax incentive, power, water, transportation and others. The present annual capacity of the Hyundai plant is 7 lakh and this will be
According to a State Government official release, the Hyundai officials have said that, “This Rs 70 billion project means increased production capacity, new models and powertrain. We will have the MoU signing in January with the Tamil Nadu Government.”Hyundai plans to start the manufacture of electric vehicles within 3 years. ACI
Continental expands electronic brake systems capacity at Gurgaon plant
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ontinuing on its growth path in India, technology company Continental has inaugurated 2 new lines for Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) assembly at its plant in Gurgaon. This capacity increase is to address the market requirements stemming from the Government of India legislations for ABS entry in April 2019 for passenger cars and 2-Wheelers. This takes the company another step closer to its “Vision Zero” – a future with zero accidents. Continental has been steadily investing in India to localize ABS/ESC. In 2016, Continental set up a line for ABS assembly, in addition to ESC systems, in Gurgaon, followed in 2018 by a new line in its Bengaluru plant, for production and assembly of Electronic Control Units (ECU) for 2-Wheeler and passenger car ABS and ESC. “We at Continental continue to drive safety technology toward our vision of
are among the most advanced worldwide, catering to all categories of vehicles. The pace of adoption of safety technologies has increased in India, and we will continue to localise our products to meet our customer requirements. A few months back we completed 1 million units of Electronic Brake Systems (EBS) production from the Gurgaon Plant.” zero accidents and therefore support making safety available to everyone. The good news about the India market is the increase in consumer awareness about vehicle safety, the seriousness with which the Government is approaching this topic, and the commitment of manufacturers. As a technology company, we will fully support this positive movement, and will continue to make investments where necessary,” explained Prashanth Doreswamy, Head of Continental India. According to Krishan Kohli, Head of Continental’s Vehicle Dynamics business unit in India, “Continental’s safety systems
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“In addition to manufacturing, we have a growing R&D footprint in India, based out of the Technical Center India (TCI) in Bengaluru and the R&D labs in Gurgaon,” he said. With steady investments, commitment to technological innovation and localisation of the value chain, Continental has been growing at a quick pace in India. On the occasion of its tenth anniversary celebration recently, the technology company had announced investments on a high 3 digit crore rupees level within the next 2 years in India, and a plan to increase headcount to 10,000 in the same period. ACI
NEWS
PSA Group and Avtec inaugurate new powertrain plant in Hosur
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roupe PSA and Avtec Ltd, a CK Birla Group company, inaugurated their greenfield plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. This marks the formal start of the industrial setup of this facility, which will manufacture and supply technologically advanced and eco-friendly powertrains for the global and domestic automotive markets. The inauguration was done by Carlos Tavares, chairman of the managing board, Groupe PSA and CK Birla, Chairman, the CK Birla Group. The initial manufacturing capacity of this state-of-the-art plant will be about 300,000 units per year for the transmissions and 200,000 units of BS-VI-compliant engines. The manufacturing set up has been completed in a record time of less than 2 years. The plant will manufacture gearboxes in Phase I to support both the India project as well as supplying Groupe PSA needs.
commitment towards the Indian customers. The quality of the relation with our partner, the CK Birla Group, is paramount to the success of our common project, with the creation of a complete eco-system in India.”
The peak investment in this manufacturing set up would go up to Rs 600 crore (around 73m euros) and will generate a direct employment of around 800 people. Additionally, the performance of the industrial set-up will be supported by a significant level of localisation to reach the necessary cost competitiveness. Groupe PSA’s chairman Carlos Tavares said, “We want to be Indian in India. With this inauguration, we have taken another critical step towards the execution of our Push to Pass strategic plan and
Commenting on the development, CK Birla, chairman, the CK Birla Group said, “We have always striven to evolve with the ever-changing needs of our customers and partners. This partnership that brings together latest technology from Groupe PSA and the manufacturing excellence of the CK Birla Group is a step in the same direction. We are confident that this new plant will create long-term value and fulfil future market needs better.” The plant is owned by PSA AVTEC Powertrain, a 50:50 JV set up in 2017 between Groupe PSA, France and AVTEC. It benefits from Groupe PSA latest technology and the CK Birla Group’s engineering and manufacturing excellence. ACI
Visteon opens fourth India tech centre in Goa
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isteon inaugurated its fourth India technical centre in Goa on November 1. The facility in Goa, will collaborate closely with Visteon’s technical centres in India and will support the company’s development of artificial intelligence software, advanced driver awareness systems and deep learning for autonomous vehicles. “The Goa operations will support new technology development which has the potential to extend across a wide range of products” said Matt Cole, Senior VicePresident Product Development. “We have a market leading cockpit electronics portfolio
– including clusters, telematics, displays and infotainment – and a lot of these products will be supported by Goa in the coming years,” Matt Cole said. The new technology center in Panjim has a seating capacity of 50 with the potential for expansion. Visteon plans to fill majority of its open positions with graduates from local universities. Visteon, which recently premiered its SmartCore cockpit domain controller on the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class, is a global technology company that designs, engineers and manufactures innovative cockpit electronics products and
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connected car solutions for most of the world’s major vehicle manufacturers. It is a leading provider of instrument clusters, head-up displays, information displays, infotainment, audio systems, telematics, SmartCore cockpit domain controllers, and the DriveCore autonomous driving platform. Visteon also supplies embedded multimedia and smartphone connectivity software solutions to the global automotive industry. Headquartered in Van Buren Township, Michigan, Visteon has approximately 10,000 employees at more than 40 facilities in 18 countries. Visteon had sales of $3.15 billion in 2017. ACI
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C ORPORATE Agility Fuel Solutions enters India with cleaner, long-range products ACI Bureau Agility Fuel Solutions, the leading global provider of clean fuel solutions for commercial vehicles, enters India.
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eadquartered in Costa Mesa, California, USA, Agility Fuel Solutions is into clean fuel solutions. The company makes a variety of clean energy products to run trucks and buses instead of diesel. The company’s products include modular on-board storage systems for Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), propane, and hydrogen; battery packs for electric and hybrid vehicles; low-emissions propane and natural gas engines, and propane dispensers.
Agility’s products are sold to global automotive manufacturers including Daimler, Volvo, Scania, MAN, and New Flyer for use in their medium- and heavy-duty trucks and buses. The company and its predecessors sell clean fuel products in 45 countries. The company has operations in the USA, Canada, Norway, the UK, and Brazil, with a sales office in Bengaluru. In India, Agility plans to expand its business extensively.
In case of the CNG products, Agility manufactures Type-4 composite cylinders in its Lincoln, Nebraska, USA facility, the largestcapacity facility, globally, for the manufacture of composite CNG cylinders for vehicles.
With the Indian automotive market focused on the implementation of the stringent Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) emissions standards from April 2020, CNG and other clean fuels are naturally on top of the mind for Original Equipment
z Composite Cylinders for the Indian Market
Manufacturers (OEMs) and vehicle owners alike. A challenge in the large vehicle market has been the range limitations and heavy weight of on-board steel CNG cylinders. However, Type-4 composite cylinders such as those made by Agility are poised to overcome these challenges. In 2017, India’s CCOE approved the use of Type4 cylinders, opening the Indian market to these lightweight gas cylinders which are in wide use across the European and North American markets for more than 20 years now. Composite cylinders are the latest and most advanced technologies. They have a pedigree of over 50 years in automotive and aerospace applications. Agility’s cylinders business in fact made composite cylinders used on the Space Shuttle in the 1980s, as an example of mission critical applications to demonstrate safety, reliability and performance. Type-4 cylinders are made with a plastic liner that is fused to aluminum ‘bosses’, the openings at either end to which gas valves are attached. Over this liner, is wrapped a high-strength carbon fiber composite. These composite cylinders offer significant advantages over steel cylinders, especially when packaged into a CNG storage system. The Type-4 cylinders are 70% lighter than
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CORPORATE steel cylinders. Because they have a plastic liner, they exhibit zero corrosion or rusting irrespective of the quality of the gas; in fact, international standards do not require periodic hydrostatic retesting of Type-4 cylinders as is the case for the steel cylinders. In addition, the cylinders’ plastic liner is not subject to metal fatigue as the tank is filled and emptied over many cycles. Because of their construction, Type-4 cylinders can be made in much larger dimensions than steel cylinders. This allows fewer, larger cylinders to be used to store the same amount of gas, making the overall gas storage system on a vehicle simpler and lighter.
z Long-Range Composite CNG Bus Systems Agility also offers complete CNG systems to bus and truck manufacturers, including composite cylinders plumbed into storage arrays on the roof or underneath the body of a bus, with an integrated fuel management module for filling, pressure regulation, fuel filtration, and electronic control and telematics. Because of its use of composite cylinders, the company is able to offer a CNG storage system with the same CNG storage capacity as in the case of a typical Indian city bus having 250-300 km range. It makes use of 2 large composite cylinders instead of 8 to 10 steel ones. This then radically simplifies the fuel storage system, reducing the amount of plumbing and expensive valves needed, and drastically reducing the number of potential leak points. Most importantly, this system weighs a full 750 kg less than a system of similar capacity made with steel. It translates to a reduction of 750 kg in weight on the roof of the bus, which allows for the bus itself to be built with a lighter structure.
This light weighting contributes greatly towards increased passenger capacity, better mileage, better performance, lower maintenance, lower cost of operations and improved ease of driving and safety. Agility additionally can also offer larger capacity CNG systems with 4 large composite cylinders that enable a range of over 800 km between refuelings. This product, which Agility is introducing at Busworld India, opens up the possibility of long-range intercity CNG buses in India for the first time. These storage systems can be fitted to new buses, and the company can assist in conversion of the storage on existing CNG buses from steel cylinders to composite cylinders. Through its strategic partners, Agility can also have the diesel buses converted to CNG or dual fuel.
z Powertrain Solutions Agility also brings to India the capability to develop and certify cost-effective and high-power natural gas and propane engines based on leading automotive
manufacturers’ diesel and gasoline engines. At Busworld India 2018, the company displayed its 366NG natural gas engine. This is a General Motors 6.0-litre V-8 engine with an Agility natural gas fuel system, certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to meet their optional Low NOx emissions standards and greenhouse gas emissions standards. The 366NG develops over 300 brake horsepower and is certified to have NOx emissions that are 90% below the already stringent BSVI standard. The company representatives say that they are looking forward to working with Indian manufacturers to develop certified powertrains that are sure to exceed BSVI standards. These engines can power newer generation of buses and trucks to meet the requirements of higher power, newer emission standards, and in turn change the way the fleets drive. With huge increase in road infrastructure in India, and good quality high speed highways in place, this cost-effective but highpower powertrain is aimed at the future India.
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CORPORATE z Trucking Systems for the Long Haul Agility has integrated LNG storage systems on thousands of long-range trucks in North America. But its high-capacity composite CNG systems have largely replaced LNG in that market in long range trucking. With various innovative design options aimed at saving space and increased safety, Agility truck CNG systems can be designed for a behind-the-cab system of up to 2300-litres water capacity (660 DLE) and with side mount systems of 800-litres water capacity (220 DLE) each. In combination, trucking companies can have a horse that can haul a trailer over 1800 km on CNG. Combined with Agility’s highpower CNG engines, Indian fleet owners can look forward to haul large loads at higher speeds and with greater efficiency across India—say, from Pune to Delhi, or Mumbai to Kolkata— using CNG. Long-range CNG is expected to revolutionise the
Indian truck transport industry, and with a presence in India, Agility looks forward to turning this idea into a reality.
z Future Fuel Options Recognising that no single fuel will be the preferred solution in every situation, the company also has in place solutions for propane powertrains, as well as hydrogen storage systems and modular battery packs. One of the pioneers in hydrogen vehicles, Agility partnered with fuel cell manufacturers starting in 2001 to put hydrogen vehicles on the road in North America in a variety of uses. More recently, the company has completed hydrogen storage systems that are setting durability records in bus fleets in the USA and Canada, and hydrogen storage systems for heavy trucks from major global vehicle manufacturers being tested for goods movement in California. It offers a variety of hydrogen systems today with
1. The doubledecker city bus fleet in Nottingham, UK runs on renewable biomethane CNG, and uses Agility’s Type-4 CNG storage systems. 2. Agility’s Low-NOx 300+ bhp natural gas engine, the 366NG.
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3. Agility’s ProRail side-mount CNG fuel system for trucks. 4. Agility’s Type-4 Composite CNG Cylinders. 16 16 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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350 bar operating pressure and is actively working toward composite hydrogen storage systems operating at 700 bar pressure, which will enable more efficient on-board storage of this lightweight, zero-emissions fuel. Agility also launched this spring a line of configurable, highperformance battery packs for electric and hybrid trucks and buses. Taking mass-produced high-voltage battery modules, Agility combines these into sealed packs of varying shapes and sizes to meet the needs of a range of vehicle types.
z Clean Energy in India With its range of solutions that span across CNG, propane, hydrogen, and electric systems, the company is poised to help the global and Indian automotive industry stay futureready for the next 10 years. And with Agility’s growing presence in India and commitment to clean air, that future certainly looks bright. ACI
C ORPORATE Bosch India brings smart solutions portfolio to mobility Story by: Bhargav TS
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utomotive industry is changing and it will need to be more integrated and has to offer on-demand personalised services that will include autonomous, shared and connected cars. Blockchain will make a significant impact on that change. Over the past year or so, stakeholders in the automotive industry have been looking into how the Blockchain technologies can be applied in businesses and are planning to launch major initiatives.
supply chain. Same can be applied using the principle at the abstract level. We are working on the proof of concept. Blockchain concept is ancient, but we see potential to do such solutions. It did not start with the automotive and people have done it for diamond tracking. We are looking at finding the spurious components now. This is where it starts applying in our own space.”
Bosch Limited, a leading supplier of technology and services with presence in both the mobility and the non-mobility businesses, is considering Blockchain as a technology that can create trust in devices and ensure that the information they provide is correct and trustworthy. Currently, the German component major is using Blockchain in its non-mobility business and is planning to bring it into the mobility space, mainly to indentify spurious parts.
Since the concept remains the same, it can be applied into various industries. The value of India’s aftermarket for spare parts runs into crores of rupees. However, the spurious parts still make up to 30- 40% of the total parts supplied in the market. Besides, these parts are priced about 30-40% cheaper than genuine parts and often without any guarantee whereas most genuine parts purchased and fitted at authorised outlets provide up to 6 months warranty against manufacturing defect. Almost all the aftermarket parts are identified by their packaging. The spurious parts also display logos, trademarks, packaging and, at times, even holograms of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), claiming to be genuine/ OEM part of the vehicle manufacturer.
Sri Krishnan V, Senior Vice President, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd. said, “In our non-automotive business, we use Blockchain in various applications. Being a global system supplier, we are now trying to use it to find spurious components in the automotive
These parts often lack rigorous testing and routine quality checks and are pushed into the aftermarket under the guise of genuine spares. The automotive ancillaries are developing different ways to curb the spread of spurious parts since they pose a serious threat to safety. “If people are using spurious parts, not only does
it impact a vehicle’s performance and safety, it also puts the lives of other road users at risk. It is, however, difficult for the end user to distinguish between genuine and fake parts. To address this challenge Blockchain technology will help us identify the spurious parts and take necessary steps to prevent duplicating.” he said. Apart from identifying spurious parts, Blockchain will also help in electric charging. It will come up as it is a megatrend, said Krishnan. He further said, “Blockchain comes in 2-3 different used cases. People are looking at swapping batteries as a possibility and have tried it long ago. It is coming back now.
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CORPORATE Sri Krishnan V, Senior Vice President, Robert Bosch Engineering and Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd.
When we swap a battery, we do not know how many cycles it might have gone, whether it is good or bad etc. One can check the history of the battery and that can be put up in the Blockchain. When we are charging the electric vehicle, we may think we are going green. But, do we know where the electricity is coming from. It can be from a thermal plant. Actually, they have done a proof of concept to trace the original source of energy. This requires green certification. It can be green or can be mixed and it is not that everything is green. Do we know how much of the energy we are charging is green? Through the supply chain of energy, we can trace it.”
Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Limited and President, Bosch Group, India
The problems are the same for all and that is where companies like Bosch see a platform to work across different sectors like health care, agriculture, the automotive sector etc. “That is what I call in a horizontal plane of a new age technology. It requires a cutting point and domain knowledge. We have the automotive domain knowledge. In other industries we will work with the domain experts. This is where we see the business opportunity. That is the focus of our innovation, identifying this kind of technology that can apply to multiple verticals identify platform opportunity, create a platform and work with the respective vertical and create a new value,” Krishnan explained.
z Beyond mobility At the heart of all these changes lies innovation, and Bosch is turning itself into an innovation hub for the world by developing solutions based on AI, Blockchain, sensors and other futuristic technologies to build sustainable ecosystems across industries for the future. Bengaluru is one of the global innovation centers for AI solutions and transformations are being driven through Bosch’s “3S” strategy – where it uses sensors, software and services. Bosch’s innovation accelerates this growth with robust distribution networks, India-specific innovations, consumer centricity, and lastly, by entering new market segments. Bosch is accelerating the digital transformation of enterprises beyond mobility and developing solutions that are designed for the usability and affordability needs of Indian customers. A key component of Bosch’s beyond mobility offerings is Industry 4.0 technologies. Bosch is building smart factories with the focus on automation, digitalisation,
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AI and IoT that are boosting productivity, quality and safety. Bosch leverages a unique dualstrategy of being a leading user and provider of Industry 4.0 solutions in the market and is thus well placed to build an ecosystem of business and technology partners to create affordable digital solutions for SMEs and customers. Bosch is boosting its beyond mobility business with smart solutions based on growing infrastructure and consumer demand. “Our business is in a process of profound transformation from a hardware focus to models that focus more on services and data. We have the capability to develop greenfield technology that can power industries in a new-manner,” Soumitra Bhattacharya, Managing Director, Bosch Limited and President, Bosch Group, India, said. Over the last few years, beyond mobility solutions have gained 35% and have contributed greatly to the Bosch Group’s turnover. Bosch’s initiatives in India are leading it into new verticals with digital solutions in the core. Be it connected industry, energy efficiency, smart home or other areas, Bosch is continuously growing due to successful collaboration of its cross-divisional teams, engineering heritage and strong presence on the Indian market. The company integrates local talents into the development of solutions for the country’s market. By collaborating and leveraging synergies within and outside Bosch, combined with capabilities in integrating hardware and software, the company is on a transformative journey to become a leading service provider in the age of digitalisation and automation. ACI 18
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COVER STORY West India offers diverse opportunities for automakers ACI Bureau
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he automotive industry has always been at the forefront of technology and process innovations. They include assembly line, kaizen and just-in-time production. These innovations have transcended the boundaries of the automotive sector and benefited other industries as well. The same trend continues today. The initiatives of the Union government, such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, are efforts to foster technology adoption and global standards in industries. The government is promoting the adoption of ‘Industry 4.0’ and smart manufacturing throughout the manufacturing sector. The Western region of the country has much strength that can be leveraged to make it an attractive investment destination. The region is the manufacturing hub of several OEMs like Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, MercedesBenz, Volkswagen, Fiat Chrystler Automobiles, Force Motors, Bajaj Auto, Ford, Suzuki and Piaggio. The region already has a strong auto ancillary ecosystem. An automotive cluster comprising more than 1000 auto ancillary companies has been set up. Besides the MSME cluster, big suppliers are also present around this region. With top-level quality accreditation they cater to the needs of the automotive components manufacturers across various geographies.
Quality of the workforce is a major strength of this region. The automotive industry in this area has not seen major labour unrest, unlike many other automotive plants in others parts of India. The region is well positioned to access the markets of various states in north and south India. The region is also well connected to all major manufacturing sites within the country through the road network. The state of Maharashtra on the western coast has automotive clusters in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Aurangabad, and Nashik. Pune, with 4,000 units, is the largest of these locations. MSMEs and Large-Scale Industries (LSIs) are eligible to receive Industrial Promotion Subsidy, Interest Subsidy, and Electricity Duty Exemption on fixed capital investments in the sector. Industrial units may also receive an additional incentive if they employ more individuals (double the number of original employees) from local communities. The acquisition of land and termloans by MSMEs and LSIs are completely exempt from the payment of stamp duty. MSMEs are also exempt from payment of duty on the electricity consumed. In the western city of Pune, 225 German companies and Indian automotive groups are located in the Chakan industrial area. In Mumbai, ports, roads, and skilled workers are the favourable factors for companies such as Bajaj
Auto, Mercedez-Benz, Tata Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra. Gujarat is the most recent auto component manufacturing hub in the country. As of 2017, 15 engineering parks have been established around the metropolitan cities of Ahmedabad and Rajkot. Rajkot, in central Gujarat, contains more than 500 auto component manufacturers. Fifty of these are OEMs and the rest are SMEs catering to the retail (after-sales) market. Gujarat’s Industrial Policy of 2015 guarantees projects 10-year tax holidays, ranging between 70% and 90% – depending on the location and the amount of fixed capital investments. Mega projects worth US$153.40 million (Rs 1,000 crore), with a minimum of 2,000 employees, are eligible for financial assistance from the state government and assistance for identifying appropriate project sites by the Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC). The state’s ports of Kandla, Mundra, and Pipavav have dedicated terminals for automotive exports. ACI
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C OVER STORY Greaves Cotton backs OEMs with BS VI powertrains Story & Photos: Ashish Bhatia
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ounded by James Greaves and George Cotton in 1859 and bought by the Thapar Group in 1947, turning it into an Indian entity, Greaves Cotton has been manufacturing diesel engines since 1939. Entering into a joint venture with Ruston & Hornsby Ltd. UK, the company introduced BS-II compliant ecofriendly light diesel engines in 2005. Supporting automotive OEMs like Piaggio, since its entry into India in 1998, by powering its three-wheelers with efficient diesel engines, and a range of small commercial four-
wheelers that were launched at a later date, Greaves Cotton Ltd., is looking at playing a role of catalyst by enabling OEMs to meet regulatory and other requirements successfully. The company has developed powertrain solutions that are BSVI compliant so that its clients, including those in the automotive space, will be able to meet the regulatory requirements. It also provides for the changing customer requirements for performance, efficiency and comfort. Engineered to help its clients’ demand for alternative fuel powertrains, the new solutions that Greaves Cotton has developed, will power three-wheelers and small fourwheelers. Apart from Piaggio, Greaves Cotton supplies engines to Mahindra & Mahindra, Atul Auto, TVS, Tata Motors, and a range of regional three-wheeler manufacturers. The current automotive powertrains include a range of single-cylinder diesel engines (6 kW BSIII/BSIV, 7.5 kW BSIII/BSIV and 8.8 kW BSIII/ BSIV); a range of CNG and LPG engines (5.38 kW BSIII/BSIV, 6.7 kW BSIII/BSIV and 11 kW BSIV), and a range of two (33 to 54 hp unit pump common-rail BSIV), 3 (105 hp direct injection turbo intercooled BSIV) and four-cylinder (135 hp unit pump common rail BSIV) engines. Many of these engines are BS-VI ready, and form part of the new powertrain solutions development. At the Auto Expo
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2018, Greaves Cotton showcased a BSVI compliant multi-cylinder turbocharged inter-cooled diesel and a CNG engine built in technical association with Pinnacle Engines and Altigreen Solutions. It also showcased a linear twin-piston technology for CNG and petrol three-wheeler engines that it has developed in partnership with Pinnacle Engines, USA.
z Greaves Care scheme To support such new powertrain solutions, the company has developed an aftermarket programme called ‘Greaves Care’. It will amount to India’s largest multi-brand organised service and spares network for three-wheelers and micro fourwheelers according to Nagesh Basavanhalli, Managing Director and CEO, Greaves Cotton Ltd. Of the opinion that Greaves Cotton will re-invent last mile mobility with the introduction of innovative engines and aftermarket solutions, Basavanhalli said that their vision is to re-invent last mile mobility with future-ready solutions that will provide consumers with efficient, technologically superior products and services. Upgrading most of its powertrain solutions to meet BS-VI emission regulations, the company is banking on its association with Pinnacle Engines and Altigreen Solutions. Looking at it as a key to fulfil its vision of getting closer to the customer, Greaves Cotton is confident that the linear twin piston technology will lead to a
COVER STORY Greaves Cotton has developed new solutions including alternate fuel powertrains to address changing customer requirements for performance, efficiency and comfort.
big improvement in fuel efficiency and performance. It would also lead to a drastic cut in emissions. The Greaves Care scheme will cover the changes taking place at the technology, the design and development, and at the manufacturing levels. Recognising operational efficiency and product demand as the key drivers of growth, the company is seeking cost advantage.
z Electric powertrain Claiming to have reworked the dynamics of participation in the CNG and petrol three-wheeler segments, the company is looking at carving out a larger pie of the market. He said the technology would help the company enable its clients to offer a low total cost of ownership to their buyers. For this Greaves Cotton is focusing, beyond the clean diesel technology, on a highperformance electric powertrain
with an ultra-light, compact and high-output induction motor. This motor was developed by Altigreen Propulsion Labs, and is governed by a compact, high performance controller. The controller is powered by lithium-ion batteries. In order to prove that it is market-ready, Greaves Cotton fitted it on a three-wheeler concept E3. It collaborated with the MG Group to build this three-wheeler 21 21
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COVER STORY INTERVIEW Operational efficiency, market demand are key drivers of our growth, says Nagesh Basavanhalli, MD and CEO, Greaves Cotton Ltd.
been aggressive in terms of low-cost production and innovative techniques. Operational efficiency combined with the demand for our products have been the key drivers of our growth. Q: How do you look at the journey from the diesel engines to a range of alternative fuel powertrains?
Q: What have been the growth drivers of Greaves Cotton? Basavanhalli: A key growth driver that we have been witnessing is stronger customer demand post the usual suspects of demonetisation and the roll-out of GST in 2017. This has led us to have a strong strategic focus. We have laid down the roadmap for the next 5 years. It has led to a top-line growth. For bottom-line growth, we have been very cognizant of the fact that commodity inflation is on the rise. To counter it, we have
Basavanhalli: We manufacture 1 engine every minute. Eight out of 10 diesel vehicles use a Greaves Cotton engine. We have sold 5 million engines till date. We offer 15 engine variants – from 4 hp to 700 hp. We are touching millions of people through our presence in the business of enhancing productivity. We have a 3500 strong retail network. Our scale is what provides us the cost advantage. It is what makes it possible for us to offer our customers lower total cost of ownership. It is this value proposition that we are backing up with a strategy to build fuel agnostic powertrains. Consumer preferences are changing. We are aligning our business inline with these changes. We are increasing our capability by entering into technological alliances. We have entered into one with Pinnacle
Engines for example. The new range of engines that we build is based on green technology. These engines maintain a power-to-performance ratio while delivering over 30% percent fuel economy. At times, it is not possible to incorporate all – power, fuel efficiency, etc. Our endeavour is to incorporate them all; to give the consumer what he wants. Consumer preferences are moving towards CNG, petrol, hybrid and electric. We are looking at the entire ecosystem. We are looking at a low cost, lightweight platform. Putting a battery on an existing platform, which is heavy would not lead to optimisation, and much like an electric vehicle powered by a coalbased energy source will not make an optimal solution. From a powertrain perspective, we are looking at light weighting of the body with our partners. By bringing in alternative powertrain solutions, we are providing end consumers with the desired value proposition. Q: What are you doing to change the perception of being a three-wheeler powertrain provider? Basavanhalli: A majority of our customers are in the three-wheeler space. We also offer BS-VI multicylinder engines for four-wheelers.
concept using composite materials. “By combining our ultra light electric powertrain offering with an ultra light three-wheeler body, we have shown that a high performance package with low total cost of ownership is arrived at. Not only will it give a longer running distance per charge, it will also assist in achieving enhanced earnings for the driver. For commuters, the vehicle would be available for a longer period,” Basavanhalli said. To support new powertrain solutions, the company has developed an aftermarket programme called ‘Greaves Care’.
Greaves Cotton has sold about 5 million engines so far and is touching millions of people through its 3500 retail outlets. It has clocked a 13% increase in revenue to Rs 458 crore, in the first quarter of FY2018-19, against Rs 406 crore in the corresponding quarter of FY2017-18.
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COVER STORY We are talking to OEMs, and once they reach a certain level we will make a formal announcement. Q: What about your offerings in the hybrid and electric space? Basavanhalli: We have the solutions. It is necessary for us to gauge the market sentiment and get a feedback. On the basis of it, we will be able to fine-tune our strategy. It is necessary to work out the economics. Others are also certain to be working on this front. The need is for a supporting infrastructure like fast charging for example. Our announcement of Greaves Care is a step in the direction of creating an infrastructure. Q: How strong is your after-sales network? Basavanhalli: We embarked on a concept of multi-brand spares 2 years ago. It took our network one step ahead. It gave our channel partners the ability to strike a business in an environment that is largely unorganised. The environment tomorrow is going to be organised, and we will have a big advantage. We are building a strong multi-brand service network for three-wheelers. We have over 3500 plus spare parts and multi-brand parts partners. We will scale up the network with the
help of the right partners. Q: How do you work out your partnerships with OEMs and allied partners? Basavanhalli: We are partnering with over 35 OEMs on the engine front. They have reinforced their faith in us not only for BS-IV but for BS-VI too. We will continue to support them; to offer them a value proposition that involves investing in technology and building our capabilities. We are bringing in a scale, a financial model, and technology partners with the knowledge that the time is short. Our strategy is to strike the right partnership as this would help reach the market faster. Q: How far do think EVs will come to dominate? Basavanhalli: EVs are progressing. Diesel, I feel, will move away from major cities to rural and semi-rural areas where access to diesel is easier. Over the short to medium term, CNG and petrol would continue. Over a period of time, hybrid and electric powertrains will start to take over. If one looks at markets like Europe, there are 2 million charging stations. Yet the per centage of ICE versus electric is such that the former outdoes the latter in per centage
terms. We are also moving in the same direction. The shift will not be instant. It will take place over a period of time, and will be influenced by infrastructure and economics. Q: What is your R&D set-up? Basavanhalli: At Greaves Cotton, we have a highly skilled team. It is well versed with different technologies. It provides us with a distinct advantage. We also are working closely with our partners. Q: How do you look at the opportunities and challenges? Basavanhalli: Three-wheeler demand is picking up. The engine business is picking up. The agriculture business that we are in, is also picking up. Not just these 2, the genset business that we are in, is also growing. It is clocking double-digit growth for us. The trend is likely to continue. In the aftermarket business, we are also seeing strong traction. We are driving several new initiatives. Each is transitioning to the next level. The key challenge that we see is about the ecosystem; about our suppliers getting ready and setting up the infrastructure to meet BS-VI, well before it is to be implemented.
Having 6 manufacturing plants and a workforce of over 3500 people, Greaves Cotton builds approximately 400,000 engines a year at its plants in Pune, Aurangabad and Ranipet. It is watching the several new initiatives that it has set in motion, and are transitioning to the next level. There are challenges much like there are opportunities. The most immediate challenge in the way of being a catalyst is the need to get its suppliers to move with it as the battle for BS-VI intensifies. ACI
The concept E3 vehicle MG Group developed using light weight composites saw Greaves Cotton provide an electric powertrain. 23 23 WWW.AUTOCOMPONENTSINDIA.COM
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C OVER STORY Eaton offers robust, reliable, efficient transmissions to customers in India: Shandar Alam Eaton, a global power management technology leader for over 100 years, helps its customers manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power more reliably, efficiently, safely and sustainably with its energy-efficient products and services. With over 98,000 employees, it is doing business in more than 175 countries. India is a major market for Eaton and forms a key part of its overall business strategy. With over 5500 employees, 7 manufacturing sites, presence in 18 key locations, 2 decades of proven capabilities and customer engagements, Eaton is uniquely positioned to play a distinct part in India’s new growth story. “Our India Professional Services Center’s spectrum of capabilities from a single integrated facility in Pune is enabling Eaton globally to innovate, continuously to improve processes, make effective decisions, strengthen customer focus and create value and competitive advantage by engaging diverse skill-sets of over 2000 employees. The Eaton India Innovation Center, located at Magarpatta City in Pune, with its 1500-strong engineering workforce, is driving cutting-edge R&D projects for all of Eaton’s global businesses,” Shandar Alam, Managing Director, Vehicle and Hydraulics, India, Eaton, told Auto Components India. The excerpts: Q: What are the diverse areas and prospects of Eaton’s vehicle business in India? Alam: Eaton’s Vehicle business in India is fast emerging as a reliable partner of all major OEMs in the country. Our Vehicle business has 3 state-of-theart manufacturing facilities. The Ranjangaon facility manufactures transmissions and parts for commercial vehicles; and the plants at Ahmednagar and Nashik produce automotive engine valves and valve actuation products. With our wide range of vehicle technologies and solutions, which include medium and heavy duty transmissions, valve and valve actuation products, torque control products and Superchargers, and an expanding
aftermarket and service network, Eaton is well positioned to provide safe, sustainable, efficient and reliable solutions to its customers in India. Eaton’s leadership in this highly competitive market scenario is attributed to its in-depth understanding customer needs and offering localized and customized solutions to its diverse customer and enduser base spreading across the country. Q: How important is the India market for Eaton’s vehicle business? Alam: For Eaton, India is a very strategic market. Eaton’s Vehicle business has been providing leading-edge technologies and components that enhance
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power and fuel efficiency and make transportation safer and more reliable. Eaton’s Vehicle business in India is about a decade old. Ranjangaon, Pune is our first greenfield plant from where we started our transmissions business in the country with many leading OEMs – with whom we are engaged even today. At our Ranjangaon plant we make medium and heavy duty transmissions and its components. Business in India has seen significant customer engagement in last 10 years. Today we can proudly say that Eaton has more than 100,000 transmissions present on Indian roads made at our Ranjangaon plant. Over the last few years Eaton’s share has gone up significantly
COVER STORY
OEMs design their BS VI complied engines as well. Q: What are the priorities for Eaton’s vehicle business in India?
and the reason is rather simple, we understand the market needs. With new regulations you need more reliable, robust and efficient products and that is where Eaton plays a very important role. With so much of action happening in India around axle load, increasing horsepower; the power requirements gain tremendous focus and that is where we offer value to our customers and end-users. Similarly on the passenger car side, through our 2 manufacturing plants for engine air management products, we are actively engaging with auto manufacturers – supplying valves and valves actuation products that are fully compliant with the current norms and help
Alam: In the past 2 decades, the vehicle component industry in India has demonstrated consistent global competitiveness. The country’s vehicle ecosystem has also shown steady advances in the recent times with respect to quality, range, agility towards changes in regulatory framework, technology adoption and manpower development at a competitive price, and flexibility. The changing market realities in the western and other key regions are presenting a tangible opportunity for the component manufacturers in India to build a new identity with greater strategic emphasis on innovation, localization, diversification and supply chain development. Eaton’s Vehicle business in India continues to focus on
addressing the end-market needs and providing tailor-made solutions for some of the most demanding Indian applications. Our products for the commercial vehicle industry in focus include manual transmissions, AMT and clutches. We are committed to providing robust, reliable and efficient transmissions to our customers and end-users in India and the plan is to have deeper market penetration by portfolio expansion, targeting additional applications and OEMs. We also continue to expand our automotive offerings like engine valves, valve actuations, engine brakes, fuel emission solutions, torque controls and superchargers for various applications for the Indian automotive industry. With the growing customer base of Eaton’s transmissions in India, we also see exciting opportunities in further improving our end-user connect. We are focused on consistently expanding our aftermarket business and service network across the country. Eaton Authorized Service Centers (EASCs) have been set up at strategic locations 25 25
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COVER STORY
to service transport and logistics service-providers as well as OEMs. Today, we have 13 completely functional EASCs across India and are continuously strengthening our aftermarket channels with the addition of more EASCs and field technicians. Eaton is also investing substantially in field training. As on date, more than 5,000 technicians at OEMs and dealerships across the country have been trained by Eaton. Q: How relevant is Eaton’s innovative industry-leading transmission technologies for India? What are the new offerings? Alam: Eaton has a varied range of offerings to suit the precise and unique needs of customers and end-users and address colossal changes in the regulatory environment. Our UltraShift PLUS AMT has
been designed with the driver comfort in mind and it offers the performance and versatility of a manual transmission with the simplicity of automatic designs. They reduce wear and tear on the driveline, prevent drivetrain damage, and enhance vehicle performance and maneuverability. UltraShift PLUS PV transmission makes buses easier to drive by providing a simplified driver interface and unmatched low-speed control and stability even on the most extreme duty cycles. It offers these performance benefits while offering significant value to end users, including reduced maintenance costs, simplified service requirements and up to 19% fuel economy improvements vs. conventional automatics and 3-8% over Manual transmission. Eaton’s Advanced Controls enable intelligent shift selection using grade, weight and throttle information to calculate the most efficient and effective shift points. Additional features include, hill start aid, skip shifts and faster shifts with smooth engagement resulting in least torque interrupt, providing an exceptionally comfortable ride to the passengers and drivers. Eaton AMT with a parallel hybrid system incorporates an electric motor/generator located between an automated clutch and input of the transmission. Using Eaton’s patented hybrid system controls, the system recovers and stores energy normally lost during braking into batteries. When electric torque is blended with engine torque, the stored energy is used to improve fuel economy. The SmartAdvantage Powertrain has proven to be the most fuel-efficient powertrain in the
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trucking industry. In this deeply integrated powertrain the engine and transmission share critical data, determining the torque required to deliver the power level that drivers need and optimizes shifting based on grade, vehicle weight, engine torque and throttle position. The result is error-free, guess-proof shifting, making every driver in your fleet as efficient as your best driver. Error-free, guess-proof shifting makes every driver in the fleet as efficient as the best driver. With the Indian government’s decision to increase the maximum axle load of heavy vehicles by 20-25%, equipping commercial vehicles with a robust transmission has become the need of the hour. With the use of the right heavy duty transmission with more load bearing capacity, this move can turn out to be a big boost to the logistics and trucking industry. Eaton’s ES-9306 6-speed has all the capabilities to meet demanding application requirements such as these. It has been specially designed to deliver optimal performance for businesses in emerging markets such as India that use applications involving heavy overloading and underpowered engines. Our ES-11309 9-speed manual transmission is a light weight manual range transmission specially designed for heavyduty applications like 6X4 tractor trailers and deep mining tippers. Its high overall ratio ensures better start ability and maneuverability. It has Eaton patented synchronizers for easy shifting and longer life. The ES-11309 has needle roller bearings in clutch housing for smoother clutch actuation in dusty ‘off-road’ applications. ACI
COVER STORY ARaymond India to set up new production facility in Chennai Story by: Sricharan R
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une-based ARaymond Fasteners India, the local arm of the French ARaymond Network is planning to set up a new manufacturing facility in Chennai. ARaymond, a global leader in the automotive industry for fastening solutions for powertrain, chassis, car body and electrical and mechatronics applications. The new plant in Chennai will cater to the needs of its OE customers in South India. ARaymond’s first Indian project was the Tata Nano. The company began its operations in India in November 2007 and later its two-moulding machine-facilities were opened in October 2008 in Pimpri near Pune. In 2011, the company commissioned its Chakan facility, and the Pimpri establishment was moved after an year. The company has sales and customer support offices in Gurgaon (Delhi) and Chennai. It has plans to expand its warehouse network across India. Sanand in Gujarat may be the next location. “We have our sales offices in Chennai and in Delhi. Facility- wise, we have recently constructed our warehouse in Chennai and now we are planning to set up a manufacturing facility here,” Chinmay Oak, Senior Manager, Marketing, ARaymond Fasteners India, said. The new facility in Sriperumbudur is expected to go on stream by the second half of next year. “Once the new warehouse is settled, we will begin to invest in machines for the new facility. We chose Chennai
because we have a lot of customers like Ashok Leyland, Ford, and Hyundai. Kia Motors also is coming in. To supply to our customers in the Southern region, we wanted to be present here and Chennai is the ideal spot for that,” Chinmay said. From its Pune plant ARaymond is also supplying to tractor manufacturers and two-wheeler OEMs like Bajaj and TVS. With the BSVI coming in the Indian market, ARaymond is ready to supply its customers with the products they require. Some of the new products include fasteners with urea in it. They will be required as there will be pressure in the walls inside and they can help control and maintain the pressure at a certain degree.
electric vehicles. For an electric car, the battery needs to be at an optimised temperature and the company has cooling connectors to keep the temperature at the required level. He said most of the fasteners for the EVs will be the same as the other cars, except a few including the cooling connectos. ARaymond has products for lightweighting also. “These fasteners do not directly increase weight. But, people are shifting from steel to aluminium here. We also have some parts made in aluminium. We are converting some fasteners to aluminium and to composites. They will not add to weight and offer the OEMs alternatives,” he said.
About the emerging trends in the “We are basically into non-traditional automotive industry, he said parts fasteners. We have a lot of plastic clips are getting connected and there to mount electrical wiring harnesses will be lighter and quick connectors. OEMs are now and environmentmaking NVH resistant or BSR resistant friendly cars. cars to make them quieter. We have Electric cars will some products for that. There are come, but it will be bi-injector products for pipe lifts and a the lighter cars that few other parts where the outer part is come first. EVs will solid like nylon and the inner is softer. take time and the This dampens vibration and there will car manufacturers be less noise and harshness in the are working vehicle,” he said. aggressively on Speaking about another new product, them. Companies Chinmay said, “ Our connecting fluid are investing line takes just about half a second in battery and to connect fluid lines. At one end E-technology. Is it you have the connector and you possible in India? simply push the pipes, and that is We have to wait and how it works. People are using this watch as there are technology now as it makes their work many challenges, easy.” including infrastructure and The fastener company is also ready charging stations,” for another major challenge, the Chinmay said. ACI
Wide range of fasteners manufactured by ARaymond
27 27 WWW.AUTOCOMPONENTSINDIA.COM
AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
C OVER STORY ZF expands manufacturing capability, opens new shock absorber line ACI Bureau
Z Suresh KV, President ZF India, Thomas Flack, Chief Procurement Officer, Tata Motors and Fredrik Staedtler, Global Head of Commercial Vehicle Business, ZF Friedrichshafen AG at the inauguration of the new shock absorber production line
F Friedrichshafen AG, a global leader in driveline and chassis technology as well as active and passive safety technology, has opened its new shock absorber production line in Chakan, Pune. With an annual installed manufacturing capacity of 0.7 million units, the new production line will be part of ZF’s regional headquarters there. It will increase the capacity to 3 million units in the coming 3 to 4 years. “With the dynamic business environment of the country and initiatives like ‘Make in India’, ZF is focusing on expanding its manufacturing capabilities in the country. With our wide array of products for commercial vehicles, we are actively shaping the 3
megatrends in the Indian auto industry: Safety, Efficiency and E-mobility,” Suresh KV, President of ZF India, said. The completely localised production line will manufacture a comprehensive range of shock absorbers for commercial vehicles and industrial applications like trucks, buses and includes cabin and axle shock absorbers. The production line will be established in the existing multi-product facility and will offer operational synergies with the current set-up, helping the company to optimally utilise its resources. Furthermore, manufacturing processes used in different global plant locations will be followed at this new production line. Fredrik Staedtler, Global Head of ZF’s Commercial Vehicle Business said, “The rapid development
of India’s infrastructure, implementation of new norms for emissions and new vehicle loads, as well as the electrification of vehicles and scrappage policy, are all set to trigger a demand for the upgrade of commercial vehicles. As a systems solutions provider, ZF is well positioned to play a significant role in the growth of the Indian commercial vehicle sector as OEMs seek to introduce the latest technologies to their CV portfolio. For example, our nine-speed transmission technology for commercial vehicles is already BS-VI compliant.” Earlier talking about the plans for ZF India, Staedtler said, “It is very encouraging to see the developments that are happening in the Indian market. In India, we will focus more on the six-speed and nine-speed manual transmission systems. We will work with the supply base to increase our production capacities. This will be the first step where we will see automation of the transmission systems. We have plans to localise our chassis components such as shock absorbers. Various aspects of chassis and drivetrain will be localised in the Pune plant.”
z India focus ZF has an extensive range of products for commercial vehicles in India. ZF offers transmissions, axles, chassis components and steering systems for commercial vehicles in the Indian market. The company makes steering systems 28 28 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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COVER STORY with JV partner Rane TRW Steering Systems Limited and Anti-lock Braking (ABS) technology with JV partner Brakes India Private Limited.
at ZF expects that from 2020 there will be big demand for automatic transmission systems for trucks after the implementation of BS VI.
ZF is keenly following the developments in the Indian economy and its fast-evolving automotive industry. India will make airbags mandatory for all passenger cars from October 2019, and will move to BS-VI emission norms from April 2020. Plans are under way to replace a large fleet of commercial vehicles (and other passenger vehicles) older than 20 years from the roads with the new ones. ZF is in discussions with OEMs and is planning capacity expansion for airbags and seatbelts. The senior management
“India will be shifting to BS-VI emission norms in 2020. Due to higher emission norms, higher efficiency is needed on the drivelines. We hope that this will help the market upgrade from manual transmission systems to the automatic transmission systems. We are trying to be ready for that. We have major plans on how to grow in India. In India, our focus is on the Pune facility, which has enough area for future expansion. Also, our seatbelt and airbag business is very important for us, due to upcoming safety norms. We are having
discussions with our OEMs and plan to optimise costs through large-scale manufacturing,” Staedtler said. Earlier this year, ZF India achieved cumulative exports of parts worth 100 million euros (Rs 802 crore). The company has doubled its target to 200 million euros. For this the company plans to have a secured supply chain from India and have installed a purchasing hub with people located in Hyderabad, Pune and in Coimbatore. The company official said, “We have aligned this purchasing hub directly to Europe, and we are having a lot of discussions with our Indian suppliers. For us, India is a very important market. In many cases, we have delivered parts from India to the US, Germany and to the other locations as well.” ACI
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AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
C OVER STORY Setco ready with clutches to suit new regulations and trends Story by: Sricharan R
S
etco Automotive, the largest manufacturer of lipe brand clutches for commercial vehicles, is ready with products for the impending new norms and trends in the Indian market. Incorporated in May 1982, the Mumbai-based Setco is a major supplier of clutches to Tata Motors, Bharat Benz, Ashok Leyland, Man India, Mahindra & Mahindra, VolvoEicher Commercial Vehicles and Asia Motor Works amongst others. “The most important trend in the Indian market is the shift from BSIV to BSVI by April 2020. Even
without a direct role, the clutch plays an important role in emission control. If not pressed properly, the drag on the vehicle and the amount of effort on engine goes up, increasing emissions. The Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) is another important trend to be focused on. The clutch will have to take more load damping and this has to go with the entire powertrain. So, the clutch can perform the action now which the engine cannot. This will have a significant impact on both the engine and transmission. Therefore, the newly-engineered clutches have double to triple damping system, which allows the vehicle to have much smoother take-off and run. Many countries
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are looking at trucks to have the same smooth comfort level as the cars and the manufacturers have to engineer the products accordingly. Our European subsidiary, Setco UK, has the Euro VI clutches ready and is supplying in the market,� Udit Sheth, Vice Chairman of Setco Automotive, told Auto Components India. About light-weighting, another new trend, he said that adding dampers would not add weight to the vehicle. With its frugal engineering, Setco finds ways to ensure there is no increase in weight. This is the technology upgrade that the vehicle will have. Weight alone does not drive emissions. It is done through a balance of the efficiency
COVER STORY of the entire powertrain, NVH and emission standards, he said. In order to be the preferred clutch of choice in 1 out of 3 commercial vehicles and 1 out of 5 farm tractors globally, Setco has a global footprint with 4 manufacturing facilities, 2 in India (Kalol, Gujarat and Sitarganj, Uttarakhand), and 1 each in the UK and the US. The company focuses on meeting the rising requirements of the commercial vehicle segment and has made large investments. Two years ago it invested in its captive foundry, with a subsidiary of a Spanish partner which has 13% stake and Setco the rest, to ensure the supply of quality casting for its plants. Setco spends Rs 30-50 crore annually to upgrade the assembly lines, tools and the manufacturing facilities. It is also looking at the possibility of capacity augmentation investments. Setco has plans to set up warehouses in Europe. In India, it has enough space and capacity at its plants. The company has minimal automation at its manufacturing facilities. “Automation is mainly at the components level. The clutch assembly is difficult to automate because we deal with heavy components. The components of the car clutch sector are lightweight and here we are dealing with 40-80 kg of component weight. Therefore, we use semi-automation and material handling equipment. This allows us to take the pressure on the people on the shop floor. In the press shop, we have progressive tools that help increase efficiency and reduce manpower. Labour cost will go up in the next 3 years in India as the country is developing. This will help us to go forward. We will continuously upgrade our manufacturing capability,” Sheth said.
Udit Sheth, Vice Chairman of Setco Automotive
About the localisation level he said, “Except one friction material component for our clutch disk, everything else is localised. We are importing it from Austria. There is not much need for that to localise it in India. We will focus on the quality and performance of the product, rather than rush towards the localisation.” “There are quite a lot of parameters to stay in the competition. We need to compete at multiple levels. Performance is the number one factor that needs consideration in the Indian market. Clutches in India should be unique, because of the roads, overloading and much more. Even the driving pattern is different. With all these in mind the clutches for India are designed to take more load than in many parts of the world. Our engineering team ensures the design parameters and we also take that into account. The other factor is that we need to be very competitive in pricing. Just because we have the best technology, we cannot expect the customers to pay more. Every OEM will has an alternative option,“ he said. Clutch requires service from time to time. To cater to this need, Setco has set up a dedicated service network with trained mechanics. “Clutch overhaul in a vehicle is an in-depth job. It takes a minimum of 8-10 hours to do that. So, we cannot isolate just 1 parameter to show the difference. The product should have quality, cost and delivery, which will have an impact on the Indian commercial vehicle market. And, it is not just the Indian OEMs we supply to. We also have European and American OEMs and we meet their standards. With this, we are also given an opportunity to work in the international market. So, we have to be extremely
competitive and at the same time deliver the best performance,” Sheth said. Setco manufactures clutches also for tractors and for the hydraulic products in the construction equipment industry and precision engineering components like complex and deep drawn pressings, forgings and castings that are machined and heat treated. The current trend in the tractor segment is the double clutch technology, where one clutch is used to drive the engine and other is for auxiliary power units which are required to run the implements. “As the labour cost is going up in India, it is difficult to get farm hands. So people buy a tractor and share it with others. This dual-clutch technology is the direction where the market is moving and our products are ready for it. We are already supplying it in the market and over the next 2 years we will have a significant presence in the farm market,” he said. Setco has developed a tractor clutch for various customers with a range of diameters of 280 and 310 size with variants of double and dual clutch assembly. These clutch samples are tested at the R&D facility and also fitted in the field with active monitoring. The company is ready 31 31
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AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
COVER STORY take the increase in capacity if the quality parameters are at the highest level.”
z Salient features of dual clutch Economical: Only one clutch pedal is needed to operate both the main transmission (to drive the tractor) and the power take-off drive (to drive the ‘Implement’); Single ‘Release bearing Assembly’ and also less number of mating parts in the vehicle which is also cheaper; and lower weight of the clutch assembly than the double clutch. Easy serviceability: Main transmission disc assembly can be replaced easily without disturbing cover assembly ( replacement of the same which is frequent than PTO Disc); While replacing the main transmission disc, no sophisticated set-height adjustment facility is required as the cover assembly can be intact and it can be done by even less skilled technicians relatively faster and with less chances of wrong setup and associated impact. Operating Comfort: Dual clutch allows smoother operation of external power takeoff which operates the Implements; the operator can change gears without affecting the operation of the drive to the same implement.; the momentum of the attached implement does not affect the operation of the tractor; it is robust as it can take abuse better as the main disc assembly is in direct contact with engine flywheel , which also helps faster heat dissipation.
with a portfolio of products to cover all the major OE customers and is submitting samples to them. With the robust supply chain, vertical integration like group company casting facility and extensive inhouse test facility, it is poised to get orders from the OE customers in the near future to start supplies. About the supply chain management, Sheth said, “A tier-I organisation’s success depends
not only on its own capacity but on how capacities are built at the tier-II level. We have a dedicated team to look at procurement and vendor development. At the highest level, we engage with the suppliers to ensure that all the commitments are in place and we regularly review them. My father also believes that it is not a bad idea to invest more on some of the suppliers to demonstrate that there is a commitment to
Being a major producer of Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles (MHCV) clutches in India, Setco has set up a state of the art R&D centre at Kalol, certified by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Government of India, to design, develop and validate full clutch systems. It also has a research and development centre in the UK. With around 30 members in the R&D facility in India, the firm makes sure there are regular product upgradation every year. It spends around Rs 5-10 crore of the turnover annualy towards R&D. Setco’s after-sales market has shown a significant growth. This year the company focused on OEMs to ensure that all the demands are met. The company’s export business is at 7% of the total turnover. They expect the segment to contribute 20% of the firm’s increased turnover. With their products yet to take off in North America, Setco believes in having a significant amount of return in the market. So far, Setco supplies to 60 countries and the objective is to grow there continuously. Sharing his views on the EVs, which is another major trend that will eliminate the usage of clutches, Sheth said, “It would not be an issue in the commercial vehicle segment, but will be in the car sector. We do not see the IC engine being exchanged for an electric battery in the CV any time soon. There is a long way to go, as the CVs and busses have to deal with load and efficiency. We think that clutches will stay for a significant amount of time, even if they bring in fuel cells like hydrogen fuel technology.” ACI
32 32 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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COVER STORY Gulf Oil continues growth momentum ACI Bureau
G
ulf Oil Lubricants India Limited, a Hinduja Group company, during the quarter to September 30, 2018, has clocked strong volume growth across business segments to achieve net revenues of Rs 417.21 crore and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 40.29 crore. On year-on-year (YoY) basis, net revenue increased by 29.19% to Rs 417.21 crore from its base of Rs 322.95 crore in the previous year September quarter. On half yearly basis, the company achieved net revenue of Rs 807.57 crore and PAT of Rs 80.42 crore. With net revenue of Rs 603.00 crore in the previous year September period, YoY growth in net revenue in H1 is at 33.93%. While the EBIDTA of the company has grown at healthy 15% YoY, the profit before tax has been impacted mainly due to forex losses (largely Mark To Market on unhedged foreign currency exposures) in view of very steep rupee depreciation during the quarter and higher depreciation YoY for its recentlycommissioned Chennai plant. The company continued its growth momentum during Q2 recording a very robust volume growth of 22% in its core business (overall Q2 volume growth around 30% including non-regular institutional sales during the quarter). There has been growth across all business segments and product categories with DEO, PCMO & MCO all delivering double-digit volume growth. This augurs well as the Q2 growth follows a strong volume
growth achieved in the previous quarter by the company. “The robust volume growth of 22% achieved during the quarter in our core business reflects well on the company’s continued excellent performance beating industry growth by more than 4 times. Achieving such a volume growth and delivering an EBIDTA growth in upwards of 15% YoY in a very uncertain economic environment where rising crude prices and steep Rupee depreciation impacted the market sentiments, assures us that our various initiatives around distribution, brand building, etc are showing positive impacts. New OEM tie-ups and other B2B customer acquisitions have also helped us grow volumes across all our focus segments and grow our market share and consolidated our position as the fastest growing lubricants company in the country in the last many years,” Ravi Chawla, Managing Director, Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited, said. Gulf Oil continued its investments in its brands across categories. Gulf Pride 4T Plus, its leading MCO brand was re-launched and the new pack with refreshed look and feel hit retail shelves across the country. A new Endurance series of Greases was launched under the brand name of Gulf Crown with completely new look and the Customer Value Proposition (CVP) of longer life. A Gulf Master Mechanic, a mechanic loyalty programme, was rolled out across 20 towns in the country and again was received with excitement and positive
reviews from mechanics who are key influencers in the purchase decision-making process in the lubricant industry. In a recent development, Tata Motors and Gulf Oil signed an agreement to launch a range of cobranded lubricants for its passenger vehicles segment in the bazaar segment. The products launched under this range would cover the entire gamut of requirements of Tata Motors Passenger vehicles business, which would include engine oil, gear oil, coolant and brake oil. Additionally, the product range would offer best technology for Tata Motors’ consumers and will be continuously upgraded from time to time depending on the requirements. The agreement will leverage Gulf Oil’s extensive distribution network to make it easily available to customers. The newly commissioned Chennai plant has secured the IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Gold rating - certifying the deployment of green concepts like deployment of solar panels and use of 100% natural light to save electricity; sewage treatment plant and rainwater harvesting for water conservation etc - designed to reduce environmental impacts in a measurable way at this facility. ACI 33 33
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AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
C OVER STORY Cleveland CycleWerks plans to make India-specific bikes
PHOTOGRAPHY Bhargav TS
Story by: Sricharan R
C
leveland CycleWerks (CCW), the US-based two-wheeler company, has ventured into the Indian market with its retroinspired motorcycles Ace Deluxe and Misfit. The company has set up an assembly plant in Pune with an annual capacity of 35,000 units. It has plans for localisation and to make India-specific motorcycles. Started in 2009 in Cleveland Ohio, the two-wheeler company was founded by Scott Colosimo, Jarrod Streng, and Curtis Ray with the vision to create a motorcycle with the custom feel and easy to customise. CCW has branches in 23 countries.
of the hardest aspects of selling in the Indian market is the tariff. This gives us a big strain and we have to push our margin down. This also leads us to invest less in R&D and other areas. Therefore, localisation will play a major role. It may not happen immediately, maybe after 6 months. The absence of motor/engine manufacturers here is another big challenge. We have to source them from the US, Thailand or Italy. In India, it is going to be important for us to look at what we can do within our space and not push outside our comfort zone,” Scott Colosimo, Founder and CEO of Cleveland CycleWerks, told Auto Components India.
“We look at localisation in every country we sell our products. One
He said the Pune facility might not make the engines. For
34 34 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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manufacturing a motor there should be a clean environment and a completely different set-up. The current engine manufacturers of CCW have their own space and they do not mix it with chassis and other components. Scott said his focus was on India, as “the market is everything that the company is looking for.” “At present, it is mostly Chinese components and a few Japanese components like bearings. This has been great for us as our manufacturers are the greatest in the world and the quality has been consistent for the last 10 years. If we can figure out the right way to do, we may do it here too. There is no need for us to import if we can do it locally, especially in such a big market.
COVER STORY Here, all the manufacturers make their own engines. When we need to come in, we need to bring in experienced partners. That is quite difficult now,” he said.
bikes and cars is the technology. We, therefore, focus on to keep the technology stable with quality product along with the vintage look.”
CCW has plans to source components out of the country. Scott said the government policies help in making favourable trade deals. Manufacturing in India is very convenient and it is ideal for exports also, he said. The premium motorcycle maker plans to sell about 25,000 units a year in 2 or 3 years and open about 30 showrooms in metropolitan cities and other major towns.
He said the Indian customers are more educated. With the customer’s feedback, the company has found that the people here are much less bothered about fuel economy but care for the fun of riding. Based on this understanding, CCW will bring to India its entire product range and also design Indiaspecific products.
The two-wheeler manufacturer has 2 divisions: Cleveland CycleWerks, the workshop brand where it is highly customisable and more classic; and Cleveland products like FXx and Hooligan R. The company focuses on both the heritage and the future products. With the customer demand for classic bikes the company has invested in it and is developing new products. About the lifespan of a vehicle, which has come down drastically, Scott said, 10 years ago people used to keep a bike for a longer period. It has changed now. “As a designer, once a motorcycle is designed, it will be moved to the team and they will take care of it. I will move on to the next one. What is new and next keeps pushing me. We are always looking at trends that are happening in the market. There are products in development because we have seen the trend of flipping the bikes in a shortterm. This is something we are focused on. In the same time, we also think there are products that customers will keep for a bit longer, especially the classic bikes. But, the problem in old
“We came to the Indian market with the push rod motor which is an older technology. The reason we went with less powerful motor is, these motors deliver acceleration; the other engines take time to wind up. In India, where congestion is more, we have this. On papers it will be completely different but, if you look at the riding experience this will be better,” Scott said. “Lightweight is the focus of Ace. A rider does not want heavy bikes to ride past the traffic in India. We have focused on features where the weight of the vehicle can be reduced. For example, the wheel hubs are aluminium with 17-inch front and rear. These are smaller because they spin quicker. In the same way, the chain is also lighter and spins the wheels quicker. The bike uses tubeless tires with inner tubes. This is done to ensure better riding quality with spoke wheels. Even an average mechanic can tune the engine for better results. We will bring overhead cam engines and better technologies to India. But, to start with we want to keep it simple and beautiful,” he added.
in India. Its design centre is in the US. Scott said, there is no plan to set up a design centre here, but would continue to build the R&D. CCW also has plans to bring out an electric vehicle. “In India, infrastructure will be a problem. Now, it is extremely difficult to have a plug and to charge your vehicle in the open space. I see there is a push from the government and very less pull from the customers. When this push turns to pull there might be demand and we can enter that segment. As we are a small company, we cannot invest a lot in that now,” Scott said. ACI
The company has an R&D centre
Scott Colosimo, Founder and CEO of Cleveland CycleWerks
ACE Deluxe has a engine capacity of 229cc 35 35
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AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
C OVER STORY Piaggio plans to launch more new products in India The Italian motor vehicle manufacturer, Piaggio, produces a wide range of twowheelers and compact commercial vehicles under Piaggio, Vespa and Aprilia brands. The Italian manufacturing ďŹ rm makes two-wheelers that are in the premium segment and their market has been growing exponentially in India. In an interaction with Sricharan R of Auto Components India, Ashish Yakhmi, Business Head, Piaggio India, spoke on the market and new launches. The Excerpts: Q: How is your current market in India? Yakhmi: We are on a big growth path. In the past 12 months both brands, Vespa and Aprilia, have been growing at around 70%. One of the key reasons is, the brands are very powerful and the products are world-class. Aprilia is catching up really fast, especially among the youth. It is the fastest scooter available in the market today making it more attractive for the new generation. Vespa, though an old brand, the way it is created appeals to the young-gen. Interestingly, a lot of riding groups have been formed on their own. Also, our expansion on the dealership network front is growing really well. With the stateof-the-art plant in Baramati, we produce the best products not only for the Indian market but also for other countries.
Q: What are the new products that the company has planned to come up with? Yakhmi: We introduced a few products at the last auto expo. Aprilia Storm will be launched by early 2019 and we recently launched Vespa Notte. Vespa GTS will come in by the end of next year. We also have plans to launch a few other products. We will also have offerings in the 150cc segment as well, and we are fully prepared for BS VI. Q: Many OEMs have started manufacturing high-powered scooters. How do you see the competetion? Yakhmi: We do not have a direct competition. We are operating in a premium space and we believe in offering more value to the customer. It might be priced at a higher bracket than others but, our products are completely different from the rest. It is more focused on high quality and is differentiated. Today, we are not in the commuter segment and this is the reason for us in not having a direct competition. The quality reflects on the pricing too. Q: Any plan to enter the commuter segment? Yakhmi: We will never launch products that are in the commuter segment or the low-cost segment.
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If a quality has to be given it comes with a certain cost. We create products for the value, so the customer has something in it. For example, the Vespa comes with full metal monocoque body with 4 coats of paint. You do not get this in any other brand. Q: How do you view the quality of the Indian suppliers? Yakhmi: Both of these brands are completely indigenised. They are 100% made in India and there is nothing international in terms of components. They were all manufactured in India with international standards. This is what helps us produce for other markets also. This shows how quality is in India and we are completely satisfied. Q: To which countries do you export? Yakhmi: We export to South America, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. A few other tie-ups are coming up. Q: What are your plans for dealership expansion? Yakhmi: We are expanding in a big way across the country. We are getting many requests every month to become partners. As a brand, the dealership is a good business model to open and it is expanding. This is because the customer base is growing. ACI
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Auto Components India, the preferred print medium of the Indian auto components industry, is glad to announce the third edition of Auto Components India Awards (ACI Awards 2019). The pioneering effort of the most widely read Auto Components India magazine to identify and award the beacon bearers of the $51.2 billion Indian auto components industry last year was a great success. While we thank all the participants for their co-operation and support, we request all the industry players to send in nominations for ACI Awards 2019, latest by 5 January 2019. The awards are to support, motivate and complement the valiant endeavours of the Indian auto components industry to be among the best in the world. Accounting for 2.3% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing over 1.5 million people, the Indian auto components industry has taken great strides and achieved a strong foothold in the domestic as well as the international markets. The ability of the industry to innovate and excel, keeping pace with the latest technologies and practices, has made it the sourcing destination of the global OEMs. The Indian auto components industry is set to become the third largest in the world by 2025. The ACI Awards will recognise the achievements of the Indian auto components industry under the following 11 categories:
Component Maker Of The Year. Technology Excellence. Quality Excellence. Shopfloor And Manufacturing Excellence. Friend Of The Environment. Component Of The Year. Global Footprint. Auto Component start-up of the year E-commerce strategy Partnership/JV/Collaboration of the year MSME Of The Year.
The jury, comprising independent experts, internal and external to the Auto Components India magazine will evaluate the nominations and identify the winners. Indian auto component manufacturers are invited to send their nominations by duly filling up the accompanying form. The form can be scanned and mailed to the e-mail address given below the form. The nomination form is also available on the Auto Components India website: www.autocomponentsindia.com.
Methodology: The evaluation process consists of the following steps. 1. Authorised officer of the manufacturer will duly fill the ‘Nomination/ Application Form’ 2. The officer will build an effective winning case for the category he or she deems most appropriate. For the 500-word note, he or she, finding the space on the form insufficient, can use the respective company letterhead (duly signed) along with the form. The same will have to be submitted to Auto Components India. 3. Auto Components India will study the information received. 4. Auto Components India will assess each entry to understand the merits of the winning case put forth. If need be, the Auto Components India team may carry out an independent assessment to ensure that full justice is done to a deserving entry. 5. The jury will choose the winner from the cases/entries/nominations received for the respective category. The jury will evaluate cases/ entries/nominations in each of the eight categories, one by one.
Model of excellence The merit of the cases/entries/nominations will be evaluated by the excellence model tool. It is a non-prescriptive framework that would recognise the approach towards excellence; towards the applicants’ soundness of approach; the rigour with which the approach was deployed, and if systematic assessment and review were integral to the process. The merit of the cases/entries/nominations will be also evaluated in terms of business excellence. It would look at the many approaches to sustainable excellence. The endeavour would thus be to ascertain how the applicant organisation fares in areas that like,
Result orientation. Customer focus. Management by processes and facts. People development and involvement. Continuous learning, innovation and improvement. Leadership and purpose. Partnership development. Societal responsibility.
Please turnover for the ‘Nomination/Application Form’
ACI AWARDS 2019
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ACI AWARDS 2019
NOMINATION / APPLICATION FORM Name of company: (in capital letters) .................................................................................................................................. ............................................................................................................................................................................................. Brief Profile: .............................................................................................................................................................. Contact Details: (a) Contact Person: .......................................................................................................................................................... (b) Postal Address: ........................................................................................................................................................... ......................................................................................................................................................................................... City ............................................... State ......................................................... Pin ........................................................... Phone ............................................. Mobile ..................................................... (c )Email Id & Website ...................................................................................................................................................... Please tick the category you want to nominate for: Component maker of the year
Technology excellence
Shopfloor & manufacturing excellence Auto Component start-up of the year
Friend of environment E-commerce strategy
Quality excellence Global footprint
Component of the year MSME of the year
P artnership/JV/Collaboration of the year
Entry must accompany a 500 word note stating why it deserves to win an award in the respective category. Developments should be for a period between January 01, 2018, to December 31, 2018. .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... .......................................................................................................................................................................................... You may fill in this form, scan it and send it across to aciawards@nextgenpublishing.net Hurry! The last date for sending applications is January 05, 2019.
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J.D. Power service tractor customer uct, pr s study hone od service quality
COMPONENTS y of a w e t a g s i West India n o i s n a p x e y r Auto indust Yukti Arora
INDIA
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O EM Jayem experience in performance vehicles clinched the deal, with Tata Motors: Nagbhushan JT Special Vehicles (JTSV), a 50:50 joint venture between Tata Motors and Jayem Automotives focuses on design and development of performance cars, including the uniquely styled parts. The joint venture enables faster development, specialised capabilities, and access to true performance motoring pedigree. Recently, the JV company launched its much-anticipated JTP range of performance vehicles – the Tiago JTP and the Tigor JTP. “We at JTSV aim to bring World class performance products to market in a short time, and to fulfil expectations of passionate customers in the niche segment of sportier cars,” Gubbi Nagbhushan, CEO of JT Special Vehicles told Bhargav TS in an exclusive interview. The excerpts: Q: How did the development process of Tiago and Tigor JTP started and what were the parameters in mind?
Photography Bhargav TS
Nagbhushan: Development process always begins from the customer. First, you need to understand their needs and then translate them into attributes.
Those attributes will be then converted into engineering specs. This is the standard process for conventional products. When it comes to performance brands, it is more to do with experience. And, this is where we thought that doing it in a conventional way is not the right thing. Therefore, our need is to partner, who has
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explored in the performance vehicles through technology. Jay Anand of Jayem Automotives is the only person who has worked on performance vehicles. Therefore, it was a natural choice for us to go to them and say if you want the performance band, what is it that you like to do? That was the first step. The second step
OEM is, it needs to be something that people would be in a position to buy. You can make extreme performance cars but very few people can afford that, but that was not our idea. We want to come down to reality and want to give that flavour of performance, which a deserving customer can appreciate and at the same time it would not become a hindrance for his daily use. The aspiration is always high if the high-end product is utilised from our shelf in a manner that it serves the function of your needs. That was the philosophy we have tried to do. We explored various options and we chose the ingredient carefully. Not all parts can be carried away. Some need to be modified and some have to be new. That’s where the skills of Jayem, that has the experience in making parts and aggregates, came in. It is a win-win situation, we from Tata Motors brought in the customer perspective and Jayem the technology and performance perspective. Q: When we say performance, the main work happens in the engine. What changes have been made to improve the power of the vehicle? Nagbhushan: In the engine, we have not changed the 5C (crankshaft, camshaft, cylinder block, cylinder head and connecting rods). What can be changed is the character of the engine. It can be altered using the same bore and stroke, by having a different mapping, how you fuel it at different rpm and how you allow the turbocharger to deliver the maximum air into the cylinder, to be able to give you this performance. As you can notice, though it is a high power engine, we have capped the torque, at the vehicles level it is
around 250 though it is capable of much higher torque. The reason is the torque is required as a force on the wheel for traction. We have carefully calibrated that. So how we fuel that, how much air goes in and the air going in depends on air intake system, which is also tuned here. When the engine is breathing deeply you get that deep sound of a powerful engine and you can tune it. Next is the exhaust, low back pressure exhaust always gives a free-flowing engine with a fast acceleration. So, these are the areas we have done it, which does
not require huge investments but need high skill sets. Q: To improve the performance the design of the car has to be changed, especially the aerodynamic parts. On these lines, what are the changes that have been made? Nagbhushan: Yes, you are right. It is not just enough to give the powertrain to deliver a torque to the wheels. You also need the car to be able to handle the torque when it is moving. So, the next important aspect is the tyre and wheel, which 43 43
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O EM deliver the performance. The wheels were selected, designed and manufactured to have specific stiffness and contact areas, angles to deliver the torque uniformly, to not only accelerate but also to brake. Basically, there are 2 elements that play major roles in the tyre. One is thread pattern and another is compounding. If you want a whole new construction of tyres, you need a new investment. But changing thread pattern and small changes in the compounding is the black card that the tyre manufacturers can do. So we went through several iteration loops, sometimes the ride is compromised, the handling is compromised, that is a normal process of tyre development, but we were able to do that and come up with a right mix of handling and performance. Q: For a high speed car, handling is important, therefore have you compromised on any other aspect? Nagbhushan: We were expecting that the ride would be much harsher because the handling was very critical for high speed cars. But we are fortunate because the car chassis is very strong, the suspension element is strong and the selection that we made is good. When you take the cars on the city on bad roads, you will not find it as a car set up for performance. When you take it on
highway, high speed cornering, the grip that you get will make the whole difference. Q: Without altering the wheel arches you have increased the wheel size. Will it not affect ground clearance? Nagbhushan: There are certain areas where we have touched in the bodywork, which were critical for tyre clearances. And we have been able to manage that without any major tooling. This tyre fixes perfectly and we have tested it with worst roads. This is where the accelerated testing from the Formula 1 driver and their experiences has been useful to us. Q: What kind of changes was made in the suspension and steering systems for better performance? Nagbhushan: Suspension, steering and brakes. The steering gets connected from your hand to shaft, and to wheel but finally the tyre contact patch will determines how you feel. The key area to address is always the tyre, before touching anything else. Having said that, how you want the steering efforts to be there at various speed levels, a normal driver likes very light steering while the racer wants to feel the road. Essentially, the way that power assistance fades away from low speed to high speed, the transition point determines how good the weighting of the vehicle is. Q: With this product where do you want to take the performance car. How you plan to pitch it against your competitors? Nagbhushan: We want people to drive it and therefore we want people to talk about it and
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experience it. The first drivers will be our brand ambassadors. We want to build this base and go to the level we all aspire for. Q: Do you think the current 2 segments, hatchback and sedan is a lucrative performance vehicle? Or are you looking at other segments also? Nagbhushan: At the moment, we had these 2 products that are readymade to be taken to that level and we have done it. Fortunately for us, as the 2 cars are of similar construction, it was easy for us to do. We will definitely attempt and do this at the response of the other products where the customer wants. We are open to do with any segments and at the moment it will happen only with Tata products. Q: Tata Nexon has received good response in the market. Do you think it will be the next product to get this performance upgrade? Nagbhushan: I do not know whether it will have the same performance, but it could be something more. What that more is to be found out. So, we are waiting for the customer feedback and what they want. Once we receive the feedback, we will work on those directions. Q: How big is the R&D centre in Coimbatore? Nagbhushan: Most of the Jayem people who worked on other projects have worked with us. They are not employees of JTSV, some of them are loaned from Jayem, some of them from Tata Motors. But, this is the best business model. Time sharing works well for us. We have a time frame. We conceived this product in August last year and in less than 1 year we have made it ready. ACI
VIEW POINT J.D. Power tractor customer service study hones product, service quality J.D. Power, the Singapore-based research and consulting services, in the India Tractor Customer Service Index (CSI) Study 2018, has found that customer satisfaction with the tractor after-sales service was higher (up 28 points on a 1,000-point scale) when owners have their tractors serviced at their own premises, than when they were not offered this option, though they wanted it, by their dealer. The company, which has its presence in many parts of Asia, conducts survey and research in various fields that include automotive, information technology and finance industries in the Asia Pacific region. In an interaction with Sricharan R of Auto Components India, Yukti Arora, Practice Lead, Agriculture and Construction Equipment, J.D. Power, said, “In a rapidly transforming sector influenced by growing innovation, customer expectations of what defines an exceptional service experience keep changing.” Edited excerpts: Q: How do the Indian agricultural and construction equipment markets fare now? Yukti: Agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 58% of India’s population. Industrial development in rural India has increased household purchasing power and income stability. The government targets to double the average income of a farming household by 2022. Riding on the back of two high growth years (FY 17 and FY 18), the Indian tractor industry is projected to grow 8-10% in FY 2018-19, with positive growth momentum expected to spill over into the next fiscal period.
intensity and improving the overall infrastructure including warehousing and cold storage facilities. This, in turn, will boost the demand for tractors. In order to improve productivity in the agriculture equipment market, farm equipment manufacturers are concentrating on integrating
technologies like robotic systems, GPS, and Google Earth navigation systems in existing Indian agricultural machinery. Many AgriTech startups are working towards addressing input challenges of the industry and a lot of funding has been raised by these startups to invest in precision agriculture technologies including data- capturing devices and farm
Some of the key elements that will help to influence the demand for tractors across India in the coming years will be financing availability, loan waivers in some cases, scarcity of farm labour, an increase in the usage of tractors in construction and other commercial activities, government’s push towards successful implementation of a system to warrant minimum support prices to the country’s farmers, a focus on increasing irrigation 45 45 WWW.AUTOCOMPONENTSINDIA.COM
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VIEW POINT part failure and maintenance alerts. These technologies are becoming increasingly advanced and predictive, helping maximize product uptime. The government’s stimulants and investments to fast forward infrastructure projects primarily go towards the development of roads and highways, renewable energy and urban transport, coal mining, upgradation of airports, metro rail projects, etc. which will all have a positive impact on the CE sector. Additionally, the government is undertaking reform in its procedures and policies such as the introduction of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, along with addressing environmental issues, forest clearances and land acquisition issues to boost development. Renting heavy equipment, as opposed to owning it, will also prove to be effective.
management software. Custom hiring centres (CHCs) which offer expensive farm equipment on rent to farmers - who cannot otherwise afford high-end machinery - can also play a pivotal role in boosting crop productivity and efficiency of agricultural operations. Construction equipment (CE) sales in India grew 17% in 2017-18. Rapid urbanisation, increasing foreign investments and surging demand for customised equipment are just some of the major factors expected to boost demand for construction equipment in India in the coming years. The increasing number of
public-private partnerships and government initiatives, such as smart city development projects, will also help to aid the CE market in the coming months. India’s production of CE is expected to double over the next 5 years, given the rising domestic demand as well as, increasing exports to the countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, Middle East and China. OEMs are also harnessing digital technologies in CEs through the integration of IoT and Big Data through an advanced telematics technology. These telematics systems are widely used in the heavy equipment industries to alert users to
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Q: How do you analyse and help customers in the areas they require? What is the process? Yukti: The syndicated tractor studies help to bring the voice of the customer to the tractor manufacturers so that they can use the insights from the field to enhance product performance, quality and after-sales support to match customer expectations. Customer grievances and dissatisfaction with product quality and service support is systematically captured through a series of targeted questions in the survey. Their satisfaction rating is obtained on several products and service related attributes to ascertain the gaps in expectations and product performance or service delivery. Q: In your recent 2018 India Tractor Customer Service Index (CSI) Study, Mahindra was ranked highest. Please share us some points on which they overtook their competitors? Yukti: Mahindra scored the highest on customer satisfaction with 46
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VIEW POINT both after-sales service and parts operation. Mahindra has the highest percentage of customers (68%) who say they will definitely recommend their authorised dealer to a colleague, relative or friend. They also report the highest percentage of customers (49%) who said that their tractor was returned to them cleaner after the service and has the highest percentage of customers (85%) who mention that they were provided with a service cost estimate by their authorised dealer when they contacted him for an appointment. Naturally, Mahindra has the highest proportion of customers (93%) who state that the amount they paid for service was in line with their expectations. This year’s studies also found that Mahindra has the highest proportion of customers (82%) who mention that at least 70% of the parts were available at the dealership on average when ordered. They also have the highest proportion of customers (27%) who are delighted with the quality of parts. Q: How the study is going to benifits the consumers? Yukti: Tractor manufacturers are working diligently based on the study insights, towards further refining the product quality and focusing on improving the productmix, as well as streamlining their dealer service to offer unparalleled after-sales support to customers. This is reflected in the consistent increase in customer satisfaction scores observed on Overall Product and Service, as seen in our tractor studies over the last 2 consecutive years. Q: How the tractor community gets benefited from the survey? Yukti: The studies help manufacturers identify weaknesses in products and services and tap
into rapidly changing customer requirements, to offer higher quality products and services aimed at enhancing tractor owners’ satisfaction. They also provide specific benchmark information to enable OEMs to identify best-inclass performance and understand product and service quality that resonate best with the customer, and thus design and target their offerings accordingly. Q: Last year, you said that there was a growth in the unauthorised service centres. How is it now? Yukti: Service defection rates are continuing to increase among tractor owners who are not satisfied with the service experience at their authorised dealerships, and such customers steadily prefer unauthorised or local servicing options even within the warranty period. To manage the liquid customer expectations, the tractor industry needs to explore new dimensions of understanding and satisfying their target audiences whose experiences are being constantly shaped by their interactions across different sectors. Q: What are the new upcoming trends in the agricultural and construction equipment market? Yukti: Population growth, rising
income levels leading to increasing consumption, and increasing exports favour the growth of agriculture and CE in India. Financial availability and incentives from the government will drive mechanisation in the coming months and years. Implementation of scientific farming practices and an increased focus on agricultural infrastructure such as irrigation, high yielding seed varieties, fertilizers, warehousing and cold storage facilities will boost farm mechanization and therefore the demand for tractors. Increased use of tractors for nonfarming activities will further propel their demand. With the tractor OEMs offering increased price discounts, undertaking aggressive marketing activities and offering a wide product range to choose from, more and more farmers will be encouraged to embrace the benefits of increased mechanization. Innovative approaches such as tractor rentals or pay-per-use model, would also significantly increase tractor demand. Going forward, the Indian construction equipment market will continue to be driven by construction, mining and other infrastructure investments. The macro-economic situation, 47 47
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VIEW POINT Mahindra leads The 2018 India Tractor Customer Service Index (CSI) Study is based on responses from 3,835 tractor owners across 14 states. The study, now in its fourth year, was fielded from January 2018 to May 2018 and includes owners who purchased a new tractor between January 2016 and May 2017 from an authorised dealership. Mahindra ranks highest in satisfaction with the aftersales service experience with a score of 831, a 30-point improvement from 2017. Mahindra Swaraj (825) ranks second and
John Deere (822) ranks third among the eight brands included in the study. Highlights of the study 58% of tractor owners received offers from their dealers to service their tractors at the owner’s premises; only 41% accepted that offer. More than one-third (34%) of customers opting for the door-step service had a better-than-expected overall service experience aginst those who would have liked but were not offered the service (20%). 62% of tractor
government policy and availability of funding will support this upsurge. With sectors such as irrigation, ports, and water conservation showing potential, it will start driving demand in the coming times. The Union Budget 2018-19 has allocated around $92 billion for the infrastructure sector. Such a frenetic pace of execution over the coming years will mean a further surge in demand for construction equipment. India is also witnessing significant interest from international investors in the infrastructure space. Besides the aforementioned indicators, addressing the CE industry’s skill development needs, clearing impediments to rent and leasing of CE, and establishing stringent quality norms and better process controls in the project implementation, would be some key imperatives for increasing CE usage in construction activities. Q: In the study, what are the major differences you found between the first and latest? Yukti: Customer expectations have soared over the years and their tolerance towards poor quality products and services has decreased. As customers increasingly demand convenient door-step and immediate service, service defection rates are increasing, and
customers are turning towards unauthorised servicing options when they are dissatisfied with the service experience at their authorised dealers. The consistency of product and service delivery is not solely sufficient to deliver growth and customer loyalty. An accompanying need to proactively meet evergrowing customer expectations is also required. With increased information availability and product choices abound across HP segments, cross-shopping rates have gone up, pushing down the proportion of predetermined buyers. Customers no longer rely solely on word-of-mouth for their new tractor purchase. Dealers thus, need to focus on building their value propositions to attract these new-age tractor buyers. They need to emphasize not only on the product’s functional benefits but also on meeting unique customer requirements pertaining to their nature of the application, type of land or soil, a variety of implements being used as well as, specific needs of individual demographic segments. Industrial development in rural India has increased household purchasing power and income stability. As rural
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owners say they “definitely would” revisit their authorized dealers for maintenance or repair work, compared with 53% in 2017. Satisfaction with service increases when tractor owners receive proactive reminders from their dealers about routine maintenance appointments, compared to when customers have to visit the dealer for arranging their service or repair work. However, only 1 in 5 tractor owners was contacted by the dealer to arrange for the service/ repair visit.
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income rises, rural consumption is shifting from necessities to buying discretionary goods and lifestyle products, including mobile phones, television sets, two-wheelers and cars. Rural consumers have been trading up, and their consumption basket is beginning to mirror that of the urban consumer. Even though rural customers remain price-conscious buyers, low prices alone are no longer the driving force behind their new tractor purchase. These customers are increasingly seeking better utility, improved features, greater comfort and easier maintenance from their new tractors. With experiences seeping over from one industry to another, they exert pressure on tractor manufacturers and dealers to rethink their strategies and tailor their offerings to transform the customer experiences and maintain their competitiveness in a fastchanging market. Q: Going forward, what will be the new aspects that you will include in the next survey? Yukti: We begin each study with a review of the previous year so that we can provide perspectives and insights that are trending and relevant to the industry and for the consumer. We are still in the process of finalising our 2019 studies. ACI
A LLIED INDUSTRIES Durr Systems expands products range to serve various industries Story by: Sricharan R
T
he Germany-based mechanical and plant engineering firm, Durr Systems AG, a leading supplier for complete paint shops for the automotive industry, for tier - I and II suppliers and for the non-automotive industry, has launched EcoRP 10 R1100, a six-axis robot. It has a maximum reach of 1,100 mm and a total payload of up to 10 kg. Equipped with paint application technology for 1K and 2K applications, high- and low pressure as well as waterand solvent-borne paint, the EcoRP 10 R1100 is the perfect choice for electrostatic and other paint applications, that serve the needs of various industries. Robin Kaufmann, Head of Sales Industrial Products, Durr Systems AG, said, ”It is a new small-sized industrial painting robot, that consists of the mechanics and robotic controls of Kuka and application components of Durr that comes from the automotive industry and application control from Durr. It can be used in various applications that include for water-borne or solvent-borne applications, 1 component - 2 component systems, from high to low viscosity covers all application, LS gun, air spray gun etc.” Kuka AG is one of the world’s leading suppliers of intelligent
automation solutions. Speaking about the partnership, he said, “We looked into the market potential for industrial robotic painting and it is high and it made sense to create a new product that fits the demand. We partnered with Kuka, and it was a 100% joint co-operation, to create one product that we both market individually. Around 12 months of manpower has gone in from both the firms and our R&D department has worked harder to bring the new product.” The new product has the interaction of robot and the high-speed rotating atomizer that convinces through maximum repeatability and continuous precision. The paint can be charged by a high voltage which achieves an improved transfer efficiency of up to 90%. The maintenance requirements are minimal due to the modular design and lifetime lubrication. “Durr has installed more than 15,000 robots in the automotive industry across countries making us the market leader in automotive robot painting. The average growth rate of the robotics industry is 13% globally with Asia being the main driver in the market. The main growth is in the general industry where automation is becoming the state-of-the-art. The world is changing and is changing constantly. When we do not react to the changes, we will be overtaken,” Kaufmann said. Durr’s activities in India began when the company built a galvanising line for Tata at
Jamshedpur. Today, its divisions are active and offer high-quality balancing and diagnostic machines, application, paint and final assembly systems as well as clean technology systems, industrial cleaning and consulting activities. The company has expanded its capacities in India as an engineering centre for the local and export markets. Sharing his insights on how the product will be used in the Indian market, Prashanth Alevoor, Head, Application Technology, Durr India, said that they see this product to be used in general industries. “We see the product in the Indian market to be more towards the general industry. This could be anything from tier-I, II, specifically wheels industry, small components and also wood sector, and wherever there are small components. As the Indian industry is moving towards automation and moving away from human skill process, this will help. These requirements will be met by the new product as it is easy to use and easy to integrate. It is something like plug and play. This brings the investment cost low for the customer,” he said. Alevoor said this product comes directly from Germany. “There, we have all the facilities and benefits of large volume for this particular product. So, we do not enter into localisation. It is a straight product sale. The customer takes it and puts it in the shop and integrates 49 49
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ALLIED INDUSTRIES INTERVIEW: Michael Berger, Managing Director, Durr India Pvt. Ltd.
industry slowed down a little bit. The belief in us is because the industry sees the German technology as a standard and Durr as a name, and we would like to continue this. Q: What are your plans for the two-wheeler market?
Q: How has the 50-year journey in India been? Berger: India has always been an interesting market. Since building a galvanising line for Tata Motors at Jamshedpur, we have developed our activities in the Indian market. We are globally active and India is one of the main markets for us. Today, almost all the five divisions are active and offer high-quality Paint and Final Assembly Systems, Application Technology, Clean Technology Systems, Measuring and Process Systems, Woodworking Machinery and Systems. The firm has expanded its capacities on the sub-continent with a view not only to serve the local market but also to make itself available to customers outside India as an engineering centre. We have established 3 locations here and in Chennai, we have it for paints, for the automotive industry. We have been building automotive plants for Hyundai, Mahindra and BMW. We entered the two-wheeler industry when the automobile
Berger: Our journey with Two wheeler industry in India started in the year 2010 with our prestigious customer Mahindra. Since then our journey is phenomenal and we delivered paint lines every year across the country. Our esteemed customers include Mahindra, Hero, TVS, Royal Enfield and global references covers Piaggio, Harley Davidson, Honda and many more. One of the key strengths is experienced people and we have around 16,000 people worldwide. What we are doing is niche and this is what is needed for the future. For a product, you need efficiency and it needs to be competitive. For that, you need efficient and highly qualified machinery. That is what exactly we are providing. It is maintenance friendly and we are ready for the future too, that includes smart and industry 4.0 products. Q: What are the future plans for Durr in India? Berger: More automation and more robots for paints will come in. We see that e-mobility will set up different needs. Many top companies have started working for EVs, both in cars and two-wheelers. So, the next generation will be e-driven. For this, there will
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have a change in production equipment and it requires a different setup. Digitalisation, being more greener, sustainability is also part of it. Besides mass production, it is also going to be on being more environment-friendly. We are also ready for the future with smart products, smart process and smart factories. These are the driving things that will be coming to India.
main factors. Next, comes workmanship of our qualified people and discipline. Then, the technology, German engineering, German machinery, efficiency and eco-friendliness. Our continous investments and efforts in R&D is putting in a lot of efforts and digitalisation is part of it.
Q: What sort of investments is being made in India?
Berger: R&D is mainly driven out of Germany and the investment is made on a yearly basis, and it is on the increasing trend. Digitalisation is also being part of the R&D, that develops internet platforms  and smart solutions ready for the requirement of Industry 4.0 .
Berger: We are continuously investing in the market to drive localisation and performance. We invest mainly in people, and expanding in engineering. We have also invested in the training centre and in service. Wherever our customers are we are present there as well. Q: What percentage of localisation are you looking in India? Berger: Localisation is key and we would like to do it. But, it depends on the technology. Key technology like robots will still be imported from Germany, while the products surrounding it is what we would like to go completely local. We are looking at 25% imports and 75% being local made. This is in the automotive industry and all these depend on the technology. In general industry, we have already localised everything. Just the key components are coming from Germany. Q: How different is Durr from its competitors? Berger: Quality is one of the
Q: What is your R&D investments?
Q: With automation and digitisation reduce human resources? Berger: They will co-exist and automation is generating a lot of workforces. We should use automation for surrounding. For example, a painting job can be done by machines and humans can concentrate on much-needed areas. Q: Is there a possibility for all kind of electric vehicles in India? Berger: It is possible, but they will be Indian adaptations. There will be a mix of EVs in the city, and hybrids in long distance. For e-mobility, we need infrastructure and as it is behind the schedule, we need other solutions. There will be combustion, EVs, hybrids and the existence of many systems together.
ALLIED INDUSTRIES
it locally. All the other things around the robot can be local,” he said. “This is for the first time that an integrator across the globe has the possibility to get his hands on the Durr application equipment. Until now, it was exclusively for the automotive industry,” Kaufmann added. Alevoor said that the Durr products come enabled for IoT and Industry 4.0. He stated, “They
give a choice to the customer that they can ramp up in a modular fashion. Our IoT suite also gives
the customer the flexibility to choose and go as per the investment strategy.” ACI
Durr’s EcoRP 10 R1100 six-axis robot 51 51
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B Y INVITATION WATTs disrupt automotive industry By: Sanjay Gupta, Vice President and India Country Manager, NXP Semiconductors
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he face of automotive industry is changing and behind all the talks of robo-cars, electric vehicles, and increased car connectivity, car manufacturers are focusing on serving customers’ shifting preferences and more intricate sustainable technological needs. Additionally, multiple other forces are brewing disruption for the automotive industry and paving the way for vehicle electrification. As the world hooks to the debate on whether these decarbonized rides are the future of mobility industry, NXP is enabling this shift and accelerating the development of next-gen electrification and combustion systems. For more than 50 years, the internal combustion (IC) engine has been powering billions of vehicles without any market disruption. While there have been advancements in fuel efficiency and performance, nothing much has really changed in the way it powers an automobile. Electric cars are disrupting the heart and soul of the
automotive. On one side, the increasing regulatory pressure is forcing governments across the world to reduce carbon emissions from vehicles over time. Recently, China, the world’s largest automotive market pledged to ban fossil fuel-powered vehicles. And they are not fighting this battle alone. The European Union is driving a mandatory lower target for emissions in 2020. Norway aims at selling only zero-emission vehicles by 2025, while the Netherlands wants 50% of cars sold to be EVs by 2025. India too is pushing to sell only electric cars by 2030. As new emission regulations position electric car development as a priority, carmakers are working their way to add modern electric components to the powertrain and meet the growing number of electric vehicle mandates around the world. Additionally, lifestyle factors, such as carmakers offering desirable
electric vehicles that trade on the value of their image, are luring customers to switch from traditional internal combustion engines to alternative fuel engines, low emission or zero emissions powered vehicles. However, this development comes with a handful of interesting challenges. The automotive design cycle for electric or hybrid vehicles differs significantly from those of internal combustion engines. Compared to the combustion engine, which is a predominantly mechanical machine using electronic components to enhance its efficiency, the electrified engine is straightforward. It uses an electric motor, quite similar to household appliances, with a battery to provide power. The hybrid powertrain on the other hand, is more complex as it combines the complexities of a mechanical motor with an electric motor. This combination of regulatory and market indicators along with long automotive development cycles makes it imperative for automakers to begin the development of hybrid and electric vehicle systems now — before the next wave of processors for electrification are available. It also gives rise to the bigger challenge facing carmakers today – how do they tap the growing opportunities and quickly design the next generation electrification systems? This is where NXP comes in. Through the use of components, such as the GreenBox development platform, NXP is providing a simple,
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BY INVITATION out-of-the-box development path for next-generation hybrid and fully-electric vehicles, to both traditional automakers and new market entrants. So how do carmakers use GreenBox? When a hybrid or electric car is moving, it draws enormous data, including distance, driving conditions, weather and topography. Control algorithms then aggregate these conditions and determine when to toggle between combustion and electric in hybrid models, beside making sophisticated energy decisions. An electric car also needs to decide on about when to charge based on this data. GreenBox development platform helps in developing these control algorithms and test them in a real user environment before the final silicon is available. While we pace rapidly to roll out hybrid and electric vehicles, another fundamental challenge stands before automotive industry. Considering the increased role of electronics in the automotive industry, it is no more the mechanical engineer-led industry it once was and there is a need for a new variety of electronic and software engineers – ones who possess the capabilities to design these complex vehicles.
Sanjay Gupta, Vice President and India Country Manager, NXP Semiconductors
approaches. In contrast, the market presents traditional carmakers a unique opportunity to bridge the gap between the past and the future with hybrid vehicles. Yet the key thriving in this developing market is efficiently controlling the power in electrified systems. Automakers can achieve this only when they bring together varied key pieces, including zero defects automotive quality, the age-old principles of functional safety and high-volume production and security. Additionally, automakers will also have to tap on big, innovative ideas, such as coupling very high compute power microcontrollers with dedicated peripherals to control, for example, the Lithium-Ion battery packs.
themselves to include external data, such as optimum route towards the planned destination and sensor data from the surroundings of the car, all of which optimize the vehicle’s battery range to help purge the range anxiety of drivers.
Another rather new aspect that automakers are now touching upon is connectivity with electrification. Automated cars with electrical drivetrains are now replacing the previously used powertrains, which were stand-alone systems without any connection to the outside world. These next-generation automated cars are addressing the drivers’ needs to be connected and feel safe on the road. Keeping this in mind, carmakers are mobilizing
While the electric vehicle market will surely continue to transform and fling new challenges at automakers, the key to rise in these changing times is realizing that the industry will see more changes in the next ten years than what it saw in the last 50-years. Additionally, automakers will have to be more flexible and respond to the fastchanging market dynamics with the right electrification strategies to stay relevant. ACI
This brings us to the growth potential of the various electric system components that constitute a vehicle. The electric powertrain and everything linked to it has enormous growth potential. As electric vehicles are more straightforward to build, entry barriers to the market are lower. This creates a ripe area for new car manufacturers and start-ups to emerge with fresh and bold ideas that focus specifically on electric vehicles and transform the traditional 53 53 WWW.AUTOCOMPONENTSINDIA.COM
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E VENT Automechanika Frankfurt 2018 presents future range of aftermarket technologies ACI Bureau
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he 25th edition of Automechanika Frankfurt brought together the megatrends of the automotive aftermarket and directed the spotlight on technological progress, knowledge transfer and new alliances. What was supposed to be a hurried substitute for International Motor Show (IAA) in 1971, Messe Frankfurt’s Automechanika, has turned out to be the leading platform of the automotive aftermarket. Its latest edition, which concluded on September 15, 2018, had participation by a record number of exhibitors, and 136, 000 trade visitors
from 181 countries, indicating the unabated growth in the automotive aftermarket. While “It has been the best week of the year,” for Michael Söding, CEO Automotive Aftermarket at Schaeffler AG, Manfred Baden, President of the Automotive Aftermarket Division, Bosch GmbH, found the trade fair as a huge success. He said, “Automechanika continues to be the most important trade fair for the aftermarket worldwide.” With much satisfaction, Robert Heismann, Director of Aftersales Business Development, Porsche AG, said, “We were able to present our innovations in the fields of electro-mobility and digitisation to the world.” Porsche AG was exhibiting at the
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Automechanika for the first time. “The 25th Automechanika Frankfurt was the biggest and most international event in its history,” Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, said. “The feedback from our customers has been unmistakable: Never before has the Automechanika Frankfurt fair been so focused on the future. All areas of the automotive aftermarket – industry, retail and workshops – have responded to megatrends that include connected cars, networked workshops and clean vehicles, offering an amazing range of innovations for the international group of professionals in attendance these past few days. In all 23 exhibition hall levels and in the outdoor exhibition area, things were really humming,” he said.
EVENT ACMA at Automechanika Frankfurt 2018 Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), the apex body representing the Indian auto component manufacturers participated at the 25th Anniversary Year of Automechanika, Frankfurt. The Indian component manufacturers showcased their capabilities and explored aftermarket business opportunities and connected with global customers at world’s leading aftermarket trade fair. 52 leading ACMA members, of the over 100 participants from India, displayed their latest aftermarket products and technologies. Speaking on the occasion, Ram Venkataramani, President, ACMA said, “We are thrilled to be a part of one of the most significant automotive aftermarket trade shows in Europe. The region (Europe) continues to be the largest destination with 34% of Indian exports of which Germany, with 7%, has the leading share.” The Indian auto component industry has posted a remarkable performance growing by 18.3% over the previous fiscal, registering a turnover of USD 51.2 billion, while exports grew by 23.9% to USD 13.5 billion. Emphasising the importance of the trade fair, Vinnie
In response to the huge interest in classic and collectible cars, the new Classic Cars exhibition area enjoyed an impressive debut at the trade fair. As a counterpoint to the emphasis on the digital world, the Classic Car area included parts manufacturers, paint makers, start-ups and associations. Jörn Schwieger, Marketing Director for Volkswagen Classic Parts, lauded the efforts of Messe Frankfurt and said, “With the integration of a Classic Car area, Messe Frankfurt has found a fitting response to cater to the classic and collectible cars segment. With our stand at Automechanika, we were able to reach potential customers and suppliers from around the world – just as we had hoped to.” For many years, the Bosch business division Bosch Classic has also been committed to preserving historic vehicles. “At Bosch, we share the enthusiasm of classic-car fans. After all, the history of automobiles is also
Mehta, Director General, ACMA said, “As India graduates to BSVI equivalent of Euro VI, the automotive component industry in India is rightly positioned to supply components to Europe. With growing capabilities of Indian auto component industry, exports are expected to scale up to USD 70 billion from current USD 13.5 billion while the turnover of the industry will grow up to USD 200 billion by 2026.”
part of our company’s history,” Manfred Baden, president of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, said. Olaf Henning, Member of the MAHLE Group Executive Board and Head of the Aftermarket Business Division, said: “The 25th anniversary of Automechanika is a special year for us at MAHLE, too. Along with the thirtieth anniversary of our airconditioning service, our customers and other visitors to the fair were able to discover further new products in our portfolio. This year, under the motto: ‘Future Solutions. For your Success’, we have shown on two stands how we are making workshops fit for future challenges. With the takeover of BRAIN BEE and the adoption of thermomanagement products by Behr Hella Service, we are growing steadily as a solution provider and will become an ever more important partner for our customers.” Facilitating one-of-its-kind experience
for workshop owners and employees, Federal Association of Manufacturers and Importers of Automobile Service Equipment offered live presentations on professional tyre repairs. Bringing together tyre and automotive services can be challenging, highlighting upon the same, Olaf Mußhoff, Director of Automechanika Frankfurt, linked the synergies between workshop services and tyres. “For many workshops, bringing tyre and automotive services together in one place and dealing with the associated technical changes pose a huge challenge. That is why we will continue to invest in this area,” he said. Peter Wagner, Head of the Independent Aftermarket Division, Continental said: “In keeping with the 25th anniversary, this Automechanika was one of the best we have experienced. Our exhibition stand was full until the last day. Trade visitors showed great interest in our products, as well as in our digital services and solutions. All in all, it was an outstanding event for showing how 55 55
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EVENT we can make dealers and workshops fit for the future.”
z Innovative technologies Several world leaders of automotive aftermarket products and technologies presented their future range of innovations at Automechaanika Frankfurt 2018.
ecosystem that will not only allow customers to digitalize their own processes, but also to offer digital services of their own, with added value. NGK Spark Plug Europe: Ignition and sensor manufacturer, NGK Spark Plug Europe launched the aftermarket’s
ZF Aftermarket: Taking an important step towards zero-emission public transport in metropolitan areas, ZF
Continental: In order to increase engine efficiency, the technology company Continental is expanding
most extensive selection of premium engine speed and position sensors at Automechanika Frankfurt, making its NTK Vehicle Electronics brand a complete, one-stop-shop for replacement sensors.
Aftermarket and engineering company has formed a strategic partnership in order to reduce significantly greenhouse emissions in cities. It is focussing on converting buses within the public transport system from conventional to environmental-friendly electric drives. The Munich-based technology specialist has developed an innovative bridge technology called ‘e-troFit’ that enables an efficient switch from the current diesel engines to the smart and sustainable alternative.
manufacturing facility in Spain will initiate production of the brand’s main products, featuring the company’s new Hybrid Core Technology. This new innovation focuses on enhancing safety, improving durability, and offering higher quality through the use of carbon-fibre reinforcement and induction heat treatment.
David Loy, Marketing Director EMEA, NGK Spark Plug Europe, said, “These sensors are fundamental to keeping every engine running smoothly, so not surprisingly, aftermarket demand for OE equivalent replacements is growing. We are therefore especially pleased to launch such a precision-engineered range at Automechanika and offer new business opportunities for wholesalers, distributors and workshops.” Federal-Mogul Motorparts: The steering and suspension brand from FederalMogul Motorparts, unveiled an updated brand identity under MOOG. A new
its aftermarket product portfolio to include components for better temperature regulation in modern engines. An increase in engine efficiency can in turn reduce environmentally damaging emissions and extend the engine’s lifetime. The company is therefore releasing two new kits and adding 23 new types to its range of standalone water pumps. These are particularly intended for use in the ancillary drives of modern vehicles, in which the water pump is driven via the multi V-belt. DENSO: In the heavy duty and commercial vehicle segment, DENSO Europe presented starter motors.
ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s Aftermarket Division also presented its fleet management tool ZF Car Connect as well as ZF Smart Service, a “digital screwdriver” for independent workshops. To address to the digital transformation in the automotive aftermarket, ZF Aftermarket has come up with a digital 56 56 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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Shaping the mobility of the future, Alexey Bartashevich, Senior Manager
EVENT AM Products, DENSO Europe, outlined DENSO’s latest innovations and said, “In order to make our customers familiar with DENSO technology, we have displayed several key OEM products for hybrid and electric cars. This will be the one of the future directions for our aftermarket range extensions.” One such innovation was launched at Automechanika this year: e-Videns, a user-friendly, comprehensive vehicle inspection tool. Nico Carucci, Regional Manager AM Sales Germany, described the benefits of the new tool: “e-Videns increases workshop ability to generate new business by scanning engine systems for error codes and performing an innovative health check, unique to DENSO, via cloud technology to identify problems and pre-empt future issues.” The tool empowers garages to offer a preventative maintenance plan for their customers and creates opportunities, and clearly reports on the vehicle inspection, providing total transparency and strengthening the client-workshop relationship. e-Videns is already available in English and Automechanika saw the launch of the Polish, German and French versions. It will be launched in another 15 languages in 2019. MANN+HUMMEL: Filtration expert MANN+HUMMEL showcased an improved and comprehensive filtration
on the independent aftermarket from early 2019. The existing range will be gradually replaced by the new generation filters. The newly developed Brake Dust Particle Filter from MANN+HUMMEL reduces the brake dust emissions of vehicles so that fewer brake dust particles escape into the environment. The filter is adaptable to the existing installation spaces around disk brakes. The Brake Dust Particle Filter can be used for any type of drive, from electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles to classical gasoline or diesel vehicles. UFI Filters: To ensure increased filtration performance and greater engine power in a reduced space, UFI Filters presented an engine air filtration technology: UFI MULTITUBE. This patented system stands out for its tubular structure, which replaces the traditional panel filter. UFI MULTITUBE introduces a cutting-edge technology into the original equipment market, firstly for Porsche GT2RS and soon for other high-volume applications, both Italian and international. The technology is set to spread rapidly throughout the OEM market, followed by the aftermarket. JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy: JXTG Nippon Oil & Energy, a global oil and energy company, announced plans to expand the European distributor-
ENEOS is present in more than 20 European countries. LUMILEDS has developed NARVA Range Power LED bulbs with crisp, white light and vibrant colours to transform cars from standard to stylish. The brighter lights will enhance both the vision and safety quotients. In the car purifier segment, Lumileds has developed Philips GoPure 7101 with powerful and fast-acting air filtration technology, this device removes harmful particles, toxic gaseous chemicals and allergens in just a few minutes. With smart features, such as automatically speeding up filtration if pollution levels rise, the GoPure 7101 ensures car travel with only clean and healthy air. This device automatically purifies the air inside vehicles from up to 125 different pollutants and allergens. Instead of relying on conflicting opinions, drivers can record their journey and collect objective evidence with the Philips GoSure ADR820, developed by Lumileds. It is a premium modular dash cam that lets users easily add GPS and Full HD rear camera functions. Now drivers can capture their journey in sharp and vivid detail. Connected via Wi-Fi, this dash cam can be fully controlled from a smartphone. An Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) adds safety features. With an accuracy of 0.1 bar, drivers can see the precise pressure of all four car tyres on the new Philips GoSure TS60i tyre pressure monitoring system. Accurate measurements ensure optimal wheel alignment to enjoy a smooth drive, improved car control, and increased fuel efficiency and tire lifetime.
technology called FreciousPlus 2 that ensures optimal air quality inside the vehicle, as well as protection of the occupants. The MANN-FILTER FreciousPlus 2 will be available for selected passenger car applications
network of its ENEOS branded Automotive lubricants. ENEOS is the product brand of the Japanese Giant. Highly popular among car dealerships, mechanics, garages and fleet-owners,
The 3 new Philips professional LED workshop lamps (the Philips RCH5S, RCH25 and PJH10), developed by Lumileds, featured a unique dimming function for enhanced comfort while working. With improved impact and water resistance, these powerful lights 57 57
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EVENT are ready for the most demanding automotive workshop conditions. The new Philips WhiteVision ultra halogen car headlights presented the latest coating formula, these bulbs deliver a stunning 4 200 Kelvin. As the whitest road-legal halogen lights in the Philips automotive portfolio, they are the perfect choice for a cool, stylish upgrade. The exciting new Philips X-tremeUltinon LED gen2 range, launched by Lumileds, pushes the boundaries of light once again, performing at automotive OEM level. Equipped with exclusive Lumileds LUXEON Altilon LED chips, otherwise only available to carmakers, these lights have optimized consistency, performance up to +250% brighter and a cool white light to provide sharper visibility. Drivers can see farther, react faster and drive safer with Philips X-tremeVision G-force car bulbs. Among the brightest that the drivers can buy, they outshine most other car lamps with up to 130% more brightness. The superior beam length and up to 10 G vibration resistance help safer drive. The GKN Aftermarket organisation, supported by GKN Sinter Metals and Motorsport, presented at this year’s Automechanika in Frankfurt, the glimpses of the breadth of expertise within the GKN Group. The primary theme was the “One Brand” strategy within the international aftermarket, which now unites the established brands globally under the umbrella of GKN Driveline.
“There is no better platform for OEM and aftermarket business,” Frank Hürter, Commercial Director Automotive Aftermarket, said. “Powertrain technology is changing at a rapid pace right now. And with so many innovations in its OEM business, GKN is a major contributor to that change. GKN is developing and manufacturing leading-edge technology,” he said. A Formula E-racing car was one of the highlights on the stand. GKN is working closely with Panasonic Jaguar Racing to make the I-TYPE 2 faster. Thanks to GKN’s comprehensive expertise, not just in the automotive industry but also in aviation, the driveshafts, differential, lightweight pump system and transmission have all been designed to be even more efficient. GKN Niche Customers, Motorsport and Aftermarket (NMA) has launched the new ballspline sideshaft, which pairs excellent off-road characteristics with safe handling on the road. Linearly arranged ball bearings deliver previously unattained plunge for outstanding suspension performance. Most sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are rarely used off-road. What SUV drivers expect is the same level of dynamic onroad handling and comfort as a saloon car. Because these weighty vehicles have an inherently large ground clearance and thus a higher centre of gravity, they present major challenges when it comes to designing their running gear and they are dependent upon long suspension travel.
z Innovation Awards In order to honour the breakthrough innovations of the exhibitors, this year Messe Frankfurt publicised all 58 nominees, 36 finalists and the 10 winners at the Automechanika Innovation Awards. Moving forward with ‘digitisation’ being the highlight, the impression could be seen in everything from eCall services, remote controls, smart batteries, 58 58 AUTO COMPONENTS INDIA DECEMBER 2018
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cloud-based expert systems, new IT systems, components and virtual reality. Particularly Proud of the Automechanika Innovation Award, Louise Eriksson, Global Head of Sales Marketing AM, OSRAM said, “As the international flagship fair for the aftermarket, Automechanika offers us the perfect platform on which to present our product highlights and innovations to a wide audience.” The company won the award for the first LED Headlight for retrofitting to the VW Golf VII. Automechanika Innovation Award in the “Repair and Maintenance” category was bagged by MEYLE for HD slot bushing kits. Bosch was honoured with the Innovation Award in the “Alternative Drive Systems & Digital Solutions” category for applying Augmented Reality technology at its service trainings. “We are very happy about this award. It encourages us to keep pushing on with the development of Augmented Reality technology for the advanced training of workshop staff and for its efficient use in everyday workshop life,” Manfred Baden, executive manager of Bosch Automotive Aftermarket, said.
z In 16 countries Automechanika which has developed into a leading platform for industry, workshops and retail takes place in 16 countries at 17 locations. According to the Institute for Research in Retailing (IFH Köln), the sectors relevant for Automechanika accounted for approx. 1.61 trillion euros in turnover in the EU 27. At the industry supply level, these include car parts, accessories and tyres, as well as various retailing and dealership businesses at the distribution level, vehicle maintenance and repairs. The 1,610.1 billion euros in turnover in 2017 correspond to an increase of 5.2% over the previous year. The sector that accounts for the largest portion of this turnover is vehicle sales at 988.3 billion euros. The next Automechanika Frankfurt is scheduled to take place from September 8 to 12, 2020. ACI
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