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Volume 16 Issue 10 • July 2022
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OBITUARY It is with deep sadness that we all at NGPPL record the demise of our beloved former Group Chairperson, Padma Bhushan Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry. He developed the construction and real estate business that he inherited to reach new heights and pioneered its entry into the Middle East and Africa. Under his tutelage, the group also diversified into new areas. Apart from his huge success as a business magnate, Pallonji was known for his kind nature, humility and June 01, 1929 philanthrophy. May his soul rest in peace. All of us at NGPPL June 28, 2022 extend our sincere condolences to the entire Mistry family. Pallonji Shapoorji We will all miss him. Mistry
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Making Peace With Inflation
Rate hikes aside, the root cause of price rise must be addressed. It seems for now, it could take several quarters to attain acceptable inflation levels.
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o we really have a choice? Inflation has hit record highs in many parts of the world including here in India. For example, Thai inflation is at a 14-year high; Inflation in South Korea hit a 24-year high; Euro Zone inflation hit a record 8.6 per cent; UK inflation hit a fresh 40-year high; Turkish inflation hit a two-decade high; the US inflation hit a 40-year high. With the underlying theme of food and energy prices driving the record-high inflation, most central banks are resorting to rate hikes. Attributed to events like the Russian war in Ukraine, the supply-side shocks are known to account for half of the price increase in some cases and suppress economic activity. The record-high inflation and the threat of recession looming large could well mean another difficult, low-growth phase. Rate hikes aside, the root cause of price rise must be addressed. It seems for now, it could take several quarters to attain acceptable inflation levels. Until such time, we have no choice but to make peace with inflation. Ashish Bhatia ashish@atashishbhatia.com a.bhatia@nextgenpublishing.net
Regional marketing offices Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd. 608, Trade World, 6th floor, C wing, Kamala Mills compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400013, India Tel +91 91 9321546598 26 B, First Floor, Okhla Industrial Estate, Okhla Phase III, New Delhi - 110020, India Tel +91 11 42346600/78 Fax +91 11 42346679 S.No.261/G.L.R.No.5, East Street,Camp Pune - 411001. 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 COMMERCIAL VEHICLE 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., 608, Trade World, 6th floor, C wing, Kamala Mills compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400013. Published by Marzban Jasoomani on behalf of Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 608, Trade World, 6th floor, C wing, Kamala Mills compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400013, Printed at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt. Ltd, 1-1-60/5 RTCX Roads, Hyderabad - 20. Published at Next Gen Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 608, Trade World, 6th floor, C wing, Kamala Mills compound, Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel (W), Mumbai - 400013. 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. Commercial Vehicle 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 Ashish Bhatia
This Month In CV
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THE BOTTOMLINE Ashish Bhatia
08 NEWS
Appointments on the Central Board of RBI Agniveers: A job-ready pool
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Green Engine Castings: Volvo Group in partnership with Brakes India launched the first green engine castings.
Riding The Commercial EV Wave: The common goal of net-zero emissions.
GST relief for transport sector Tata Motors bags new order NHIDC MoU with IIT Roorkee MoEVing and Sona Comstar MoU Euler Motors collaborates with LetsTransport OSM partners with Grip ETO Motors redefines last-mile connectivity TPEML and Ford India MoU The Fuel Delivery partners with MGL Freudenberg to augment capacity Eaton India certified as zero water discharge Welspun and Tata steel join hands EV services for airport transfers
Write to us at cvonline@nextgenpublishing.net with your feedback and suggestions or visit us at www.commercialvehicle.in to access the digital first content.
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Liquid Cooling To The Rescue: Battery Management Systems incorporate liquid cooling.
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Localising RideAssist Technology Continental is localising ride-assist technology.
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This Month In CV
Jindal Aluminium bags award Covestro CEO stays on BEL to manufacture battery packs Jupiter Wagons Ltd. forays into EV segment Priyadarsi Bastia is new CFO at Pricol Symbio and Schaeffler join forces Saietta boosts transition to e-drive systems EU-Ukraine special agreement
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Satisfying The Customer Base: BKT is satisfying the customer base to further enhance its market acceptance.
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Recycled Polyester Tyres: Continental has found a use case in PET bottles. Thank you for your attention!
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Solidifying Its Position: Daimler India Commercial Vehicles is celebrating a decade of operations.
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In-Cabin And External Monitoring Systems: Infineon has attaIned new heights in smart radar sensor technology.
Breaking boundaries: The simulation tool from Ansys, Inc looks promising.
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Tyre Exports And Replacement Demand: The Tyre industry is banking on exports and replacements for growth.
Step 1 : Open the Camera app or a QR Code scanning app Step 2 : Hold your device steady for 2-3 seconds pointing towards the adjoining QR Code Step 3 : A notification with a url will appear Step 4 : Click to visit the content as shown on the right hand side. Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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RBI Central Board hierarchy The key industry veterans from the automotive industry have been appointed to the Central Board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). TVS Motor Company, Chairman Emeritus, Venu Srinivasan has been appointed as the non-official director on the central board of the
RBI. Mahindra & Mahindra, Chairman, Anand Gopal Mahindra, has also been appointed as part-time,
non-official Directors on the Central Bank Board. Part of the 10 non-official directors on the Central Board of RBI, the four new appointees take over effective June 14, 2022, for a four years tenure. The official full-time directors of the RBI consist of the Governor and four deputy governors.
Agniveers: A GST relief for job-ready pool transport sector
The Agniveers have found backing from Industrialist Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra & Mahindra Group. Citing their rigorous training known to impart both skill and discipline, he backed them up as a jobready pool. Responding to a tweet questioning their industry fit, Anand Mahindra opined they were job-ready and fit for operations, supply chain and administration roles. With a fear looming large on only 25 per cent making the cut eventually, he expressed, “There is a large potential of employment of Agniveers in the Corporate Sector. With leadership, teamwork and physical training, agniveers provide market-ready professional solutions to industry, covering the full spectrum from operations to administration and supply chain management.
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The Goods and Services Tax (GST) council has offered a relief for the transport sector. It has slashed tax rates on renting of goods carriage. It has also relieved small businesses involved in e-commerce by waiving off compulsory registration. The waiver is applicable for firms with annual turnover of up to Rs.40 lakh and Rs.20 lakh for goods and services respectively. The council has provided transporters the flexibility of opting for paying GST at five per cent without input tax credit or GST at 12 per cent with such credit. The move is expected to come into effect from January 2023. This change, it is said, will help restore parity.
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Tata Motors bags new order Tata Motors has signed a new agreement with BluSmart Electric Mobility to deliver 10,000 XPRES T Electric Vehicles (EVs) to the company. The deployment makes it the biggest ever EV fleet order in India, as per the company. Accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation, the company signed the agreement on the World Environment Day. Drawing attention to Tata Motors constantly working towards educating stakeholders and enhancing the adoption of emobility in India, Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd., and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. said, “Our XPRES-T EV fleet offers an optimal battery size along with a captive fast charging solution and has already set benchmarks in its category.”
NHIDC MoU with MoEVing and Sona IIT Roorkee Comstar MoU National Highways Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Roorkee have signed an MoU to share knowledge on innovative ideas as well as technologies in the field of highway engineering. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the agreement aims at offering a formal basis for initiating interaction between the highway corporation and IIT-Roorkee. The agreement will also play a key role in helping realise the aims and objectives of the Government’s GatiShakti programme, the national master plan launched recently. Experts in their respective fields, NHIDCL and IIT-Roorkee will work together in order to achieve national objectives, undertaken with their best abilities and mutual cooperation with the intent of helping one another.
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MoEVing, a leading full-stack commercial electric mobility platform has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. for data collaboration. The collaboration is expected to enable the companies to develop technologies and design components suitable for various commercial emobility applications in India. With a common vision of developing cost-effective technologies and driving faster adoption of emobility in India, MoEVing will bank on deep data intelligence around vehicle performance, driver behaviour, geospatial intelligence, and duty cycles said to be the vital inputs to a highquality component design. Sona Comstar will in turn use the databacked insights to innovate and develop high-quality products. Vivek Vikram Singh, CEO of Sona Comstar, said, “This collaboration is yet another step towards offering cost-effective solutions to drive faster adoption of electric mobility in India.” Mragank Jain, Founder and CSO, MoEVing, commented on the importance of automobile technology in the electric vehicle market. He stated, “With our realtime data capturing of vehicle, battery, and driver behaviour, we can measure and improve vehicle economy and provide analytical insights into the whole EV ecosystem.”
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Euler Motors collaborates with LetsTransport Euler Motors has partnered with LetsTransport to deploy 1,000 HiLoad EVs. Both companies will collaborate to deploy these EVs in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Delhi-NCR and cover other cities across India over the next 12 months. With deployment of HiLoad vehicles, LetsTransport will bring EVs in their portfolio and strengthen its on-time delivery commitment
with last-mile efficiencies. The partnership will help Euler Motors
OSM partners with Grip Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) announced a strategic partnership with Grip, India’s leading alternative investment platform for providing lease financing solutions to retail investors. Under the partnership, Grip will finance 1000 units of electric three-wheelers including OSM’s Rage+ Rapid. Both the companies will expand this partnership to lease a minimum of 5,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2023. Through this deal,
OSM targets to cater to the evergrowing demand for electric threewheelers for last-mile delivery. OSM has an existing order book of over 40,000 commercial electric vehicles. Commenting on the partnership, Uday Narang, Founder, and Chairman, Omega Seiki Mobility said, “We are pleased to partner with Grip which is a customer-centric, tech-enabled newage investment platform.” According to Narang, the collaboration will work
increase its foothold in the EV market, and expand its customer base with retailers, 3PL logistics and fleet owners. Under this partnership, Euler Motors will oversee deployment of these vehicles via its full-stack ecosystem of charging infrastructure and service support, while LetsTransport will enable customer mobilisation and retail deliveries.
upon a stronger foothold of the EV in the existing market and accelerate the electrification drive. The absence of affordable financing options has proven to be a critical impediment for low-income patrons to change to EVs. “Keeping with the belief system to create sustainable mobility, OSM scouts various ways to lease and supply electric three-wheelers, adding to the current EV thrust in the country,” he added.
New OSM EV manufacturing unit Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM) has announced its new Electric Vehicle (EV) manufacturing unit for India and exports at Chakan, Pune. With an initial investment of Rs.40 crore (USD five million), the facility will have a capacity of producing 6,000 electric three wheelers per annum. The company will be investing another Rs.150 crore (USD 20 million) in the next three- years for an annual capacity of 30,000 electric three-wheelers. After commencing work at the new facility, OSM has rolled off the first unit of Rage+ off the production
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line at the Pune plant. OSM will be manufacturing its cargo electric vehicle range: Rage+, Rage+ Rapid, Rage+ Frost and Rage+
Swap and electric people mover ‘Stream’ at the Pune facility. The facility is expected to generate employment for 250 plus people.
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ETO Motors redefines the last-mile segment By deploying its 1000th electric three-wheeler, ETO Motors, the provider of electric mobility solutions and services, demonstrated its dedication to operating as an environmentally friendly company. It aspires to revolutionise the Indian automotive industry. The company has expanded its portfolio with the Trilux (people mover) and cargo Bulke Plus range. ETO
TPEML and Ford India MoU Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited (TPEML) and Ford India Pvt. Ltd. (FIPL) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Gujarat (GoG). Under the MoU, TPEML will potentially acquire Ford India’s Sanand vehicle manufacturing facility which includes land, vehicle manufacturing plant, machinery and equipment and transfer of all eligible employees of the latter’s Sanand vehicle manufacturing operations, subject to the signing of definitive agreements and receipt of relevant approvals. Ford India will operate its powertrain manufacturing facilities by leasing back the land and buildings of the powertrain unit from TPEML. Given the increasing capacity utilisations, Tata Motors through the subsidiary company is looking to augment the EV manufacturing capacity in the coming years. Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Limited and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Limited, said, “Tata Motors has had a strong presence in Gujarat for more than a decade with its own manufacturing facility at Sanand. This MoU further reinforces our commitment to the state by creating more employment and business.” Tata Motors will invest in new machinery and equipment which is necessary to commission and make the unit ready to produce its vehicles. With the proposed investments, it would establish an installed capacity of 300,000 units per annum, which would be scalable to more than 400,000 units. This MOU will be followed by the signing of the definitive transaction agreements between TPEML and FIPL.
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vehicles are claimed to be stable and offer a highest in class wheelbase. The company attributes it to a “topple-free” design and technology, which is a crucial characteristic for vehicles in this segment. The company has also been the lastmile connectivity partner to e-commerce giants like Amazon, BigBasket and Flipkart to name a few.
TFD partners with MGL The Fuel Delivery (TFD) has signed a letter of intent (LOI) with Mahanagar Gas Ltd. (MGL) to deliver CNG at the doorstep. As per the agreement, it will deliver CNG Composite Dispensing Unit (CDU) in Mumbai providing hassle-free services. TFD has received approval from MGL to operate two CDUs in Mumbai, to begin with. The service will start in the next three months from Sion and Mahape in Mumbai and will gradually be extended to the other parts of the city. MGL has followed due processes and completed trial runs after receiving initial clearance from Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation (PESO). With the doorstep CNG delivery, customers will be able to refuel their vehicles without having to spend hours in the queues of the CNG stations.
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FFT capacity augmentation With 90 per cent of its order book reserved for automotive, Freudenberg Filtration Technologies India is aligning with the demand. Manufacturing an estimated 7,00,000 filters from the Sanaswadi Village plant, in Pune, of which 90 per cent is allocated to the automotive segment, the company expects demand to rise by ~50 per cent (~11,00,000). To cater to this projected demand by end of the year, the company has begun the process of capacity augmentation at the facility. It will install two new machines of German make to manufacture cabin air-filters, revealed Ashok Pandey, Head of Automotive, Freudenberg
Filtration Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Known to contribute 70 per cent of the production load as of current in a 24by7 operation, the capacity augmentation is
Eaton India sites certified for zero water discharge In alignment with its 2030 sustainability targets, all Eaton India facilities are now zero water discharge certified. They have achieved this target by reviewing and understanding the needs of the zero water discharge process and using the predefined checklist to identify gaps and fill them in with the right solutions according to Mukul Kadam, Sub-regional Manager, EHS corporate Eaton. He said, “Our plants are concentrating on reducing waste generation within the plant by recycling and reusing.” To become certified as zero water discharge, sites must consistently achieve an industrial wastewater discharge rate of two per cent or less. On the global front as well, the company aims to certify 10 per cent of its manufacturing facilities as zero water discharge by 2030.
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expected to help distribute the load. India investments amount to Euro 7.1 mn. This includes the investment at SIPCOT, Sriperumbudur.
WCL and Tata steel partner Welspun Corp Ltd.(WCL) has partnered with Tata Steel to develop the ‘framework for and subsequently manufacturing’ green pipes for transportation of pure hydrogen and natural gas-blended hydrogen. This MoU will enhance the general understanding and knowledge of the transportation of hydrogen globally, Welspun Corp said. “This partnership will enable us to jointly develop steel for safe transportation of hydrogen gas which is a critical requirement for adoption of hydrogen fuel in line with the government’s National Hydrogen Mission,” exclaimed Rajeev Singhal, Vice President Marketing & Sales (Flat Products), Tata Steel. “The green energy strategic partnership with Tata Steel is to assess the suitability of a variety of pipes manufactured by WCL for the transportation of the fuel of the future, which will aid in mitigating climate changeled issues and build a secure future for posterity,” WCL stated.
EV services for airport transfers The global logistics firm, Kuehne+Nagel has just started an electric vehicle service for airport transfers in Mumbai. With this service, Kuehne+Nagel hopes to gradually transition to electric vehicles in order to lessen its carbon footprint, advance the cause of a sustainable future. Between Mumbai airport’s Kuehne+Nagel warehouse and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International airport, Mahindra Treo Zor will be used ferry air cargo. The use of EVs is anticipated to reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint by 24.7-tonne annually. Commenting on air logistics, Marcel Fujike, SVP, Global Head Products & Services Air Logistics at Kuehne+Nagel, said “Our customers have benefited
from the global availability of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) since last year, and we continue to develop sustainable solutions for a fully carbon neutral transport journey. The introduction of EV airport transfer is the
Jindal Aluminium bags Award Pragun Jindal Khaitan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Jindal Aluminium was honoured with the prestigious ‘Young Entrepreneur Innovation Award 2022’ at the second International Conference on Startup ventures: Technology Developments and Future Strategies (SVTDFS 2022) jointly organised by Manipal University Jaipur and Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Haryana. Pragun Jindal Khaitan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Jindal Aluminium mentioned, “It was great to witness top universities coming together to promote start-up India, a flagship initiative of the Government of India. Such measures and industry participation is required to motivate young and budding entrepreneurs and ensure the success of startup India.” “No matter what, just keep going,” he averred, quoting Dr Sitaram Jindal, the Founder and Chairman of Jindal Aluminium.
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next phase in our transition to low-carbon, door-to-door air transportation, with more sustainable services to follow.” The company is taking several initiatives globally as well to reduce carbon footprint and contribute its bit to sustainability.
Covestro CEO gets a term extension Markus Steilemann will remain Chief Executive Officer of Covestro for a further five years. The Supervisory Board has extended his contract, which runs until May 2023, to May 31, 2028. Steilemann has been a member of the Covestro Board of Management since September 2015 and its Chief Executive Officer since June 2018. “Markus Steilemann has provided Covestro with outstanding leadership as a chief executive officer during his tenure to date, setting important strategic direction and driving the Group’s sustainable growth. We look forward to continuing our successful cooperation,” Richard Pott, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Covestro AG stated in a company release. “By extending his mandate ahead of schedule, we are emphasising our confidence in Steilemann to successfully continue the transformation Covestro has begun to become fully circular,” he added. Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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BEL Li-ion battery packs The Pune unit of Navratna Defence PSU, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) will manufacture Li-ion battery packs for the electric trucks of US-based Triton, as part of an MoU. BEL is among the five organisations which will be investing in this Triton EV manufacturing hub at Bhuj, Gujarat. The MoU aims at manufacturing battery cells in India for energy storage systems and electric vehicles in the heavy
vehicle segment for the requirements of customers in USA. The company has acquired the technology for Li-Ion cells and is setting up a state-of-the-art facility for its manufacturing, the statement said. The partnership between BEL and Triton is set to give a major boost to the ‘Make in India’ initiative and EV thrust of the Government, in the journey towards an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative,” it was stated.
JWL forays into EVs Jupiter Wagons Ltd. (JWL), a producer of wagons, brake systems, and engineering equipment, has introduced Jupiter Electric Mobility (JEM), a division that focuses on commercial electric vehicles, to the market. A joint venture between the business and EA GreenPower Private Ltd., a fully owned subsidiary of GreenPower Motor Company Inc. (also known as GreenPower), has been established. It is a publicly traded company with offices in the United States and Canada that focuses on the passenger and freight transportation markets for electric commercial vehicles. “With our JV with GreenPower Motors, we seek to align the technology assets of both organisations by generating safety and sustainability in the EV market. The GreenPower ECVs will allow us to satisfy a wide range of business needs,” stated Vivek Lohia, Director, Jupiter Wagons Group. The joint venture will be GreenPower Motor’s entry point into India, concentrating on ECVs for India and other markets, and introduce products in the next two years for the passenger transit and cargo markets.
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Priyadarsi Bastia is new CFO at Pricol Pricol announced the appointment of Priyadarsi Bastia as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) in place of P Krishnamoorthy who has tendered his resignation. The company in a regulatory filing informed that Bastia, aged 44 years comes with an overall experience of 22 years across corporate finance, accounting, taxation, treasury, product costing, budgeting, pricing, process controls and improvements, cost optimisation, investment evaluations, amongst others. A qualified Chartered Accountant (CA), he currently works as the General Manager (Finance) in the company. Prior to this he was associated with Murugappa Group, KPMG and Sastri & Shah. Coimbatore-based Pricol is a supplier of diversified auto components like instrument clusters, sensors and switches, pumps and mechanical products, telematics solutions and wiping systems amongst others.
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Symbio and Schaeffler join forces Symbio, a Michelin and Faurecia hydrogen company, and Schaeffler have joined forces to establish Innoplate, their global Joint Venture (JV). Holding equal stakes in the JV, both the companies plan to produce fuel-cell Bi-Polar Plates (BPP), a strategic fuel-cell component through this collaboration. The first plant of the JV will be located in Haguenau, France and will target the production of 50 million bipolar plates annually for the global market
with an initial capacity of four million BPP per year. It will employ more than 120 people by 2030. Expected to be established by the end of 2022 subject to customary conditions precedent such as applicable
Saietta shifts to fully integrated light duty e-drive systems Saietta Group has expanded its product offering for the light-duty electric vehicle sector. The Group’s Axial Flux Technology (AFT) electric motor range has been enhanced and expanded with integrated power electronics, a modular gearbox and a bespoke axle architecture in direct response to growing demand. This enables providing lightduty vehicle manufacturers with a fully integrated one-stop-shop for e-mobility system solutions. Commenting on Saietta’s expansion and enhanced AFT product range, Wicher (Vic) Kist, Chief Executive Officer of Saietta, said, “The acquisition of e-Traction has enabled us to reach this point sooner than expected and customer engagement has convinced us that this is the best commercial opportunity for delivering our AFT technology to market. Owning the power electronics and software development capabilities should allow us to help our customers to get their vehicle platforms to market faster.” The acquisition of e-Traction in November 2021 has been key in Saietta advancing the development of its in-house developed integrated inverter for the AFT motor range.
merger control clearances, the JV while accelerating the production of BPP for the entire Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell market, will enhance performance, capacity, and cost competitiveness for its customers. The production is planned to get started by early 2024. Symbio has received a first major nomination for their fuel cell system from a leading automotive OEM and plans to use the JV to supply the BPP for this program.
EU-Ukraine special agreement The road freight transport between the European Union and Ukraine is currently governed by two main mechanisms namely bilateral transport agreements between EU Member States and Ukraine and permits granted in the framework the ECMT multilateral quota system within the International Transport Forum. Both these mechanisms impose quotas on hauliers from both sides. The volume of road exports and, as a result, the need for permits for international transportation in some areas has increased several times in the context of a full-scale war and the blockade of Ukrainian ports. Minister of Infrastructure Oleksandr Kubrakov, said, “At the same time, we are working on building border infrastructure that would significantly increase capacity at the western borders. In particular, within the framework of the Open Border project we plan to eliminate all bottlenecks at the border.” Over the last five years, the limited number of permits for international transportation has been a major issue for Ukrainian carriers. Since the signing of the Free Trade Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union in 2016, trade with the EU has nearly doubled, and road haulage has increased by 42 per cent.. Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Product Launch | Ancillaries
Satisfying The Customer Base BKT is satisfying the customer base to enhance its market acceptance. Prateek Pardeshi looks at the strides forward.
B @Prateek2101
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lalkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) is synonymous with Off-Road Tyres (OTR). With its wide domestic and international network, the company is hard to miss. Its products are even harder! With synergies among Group companies: BKT Exim Ltd, BKT Tyres Ltd., and Thristha Synthetics Ltd. in India and BKT Exim US, Inc., BKT USA Inc, BKT Tires (Canada) Inc, and BKT Europe S.R.L as its global subsidiaries, the company is taking forward strides to enhance its market acceptance among the customer base. BKT recently launched the ‘Made in India’ OTR range for
Commercial Vehicle July 2022 | www.commercialvehicle.in
construction and earth moving applications showcased most recently at Excon 2k21. The attention was drawn to the E4 Earthmax SR468 TL and L5 Earthmax SR53 TL. According to Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, Balkrishna Industries Ltd., “Our R&D teams have produced these technologies to meet the demands of the sector and build even more robust tyres. This will help us better our offerings with customised products that are built around their needs and requirements.” The E4 Earthmax SR468 TL, one of the largest tyres in the range is an all-steel radial specially designed for rigid
haul trucks. The company is confident that the unique tread design with special tread compounds makes it apt for hard, rocky and tough mining conditions. Its tread lug blocks with circumferential grooves and intertwined blocks are designed to ensure effective heat dissipation, for instance. Also, the sturdy square shoulder assists in ejecting loose stones to protect the tyre from wear. BKT hails it as a development for customers looking to carry heavy loads where the company assures longer service life and a high degree of resistance to rock forced cuts and punctures. In comparison, the
Product Launch | Ancillaries
The 45/65R45 L5 Earthmax SR53 Tyre
45/65R45 L5 Earthmax SR53 TL, an all-steel radial from the Earthmax umbrella is specially made for large loaders known to operate in difficult rocky conditions. A cut-resistant compound makes up the deep L-5 tread classification. Additionally, the tyre is made to provide exceptional abrasion resistance while being loaded. Further BKT also introduced newly introduced rubber tracks designed for compact track loaders. Amongst few tyre manufacturers to produce rubber tracks for agricultural and industrial machines, the company is breaking into new territories, tapping new customers with initiatives like producing rubber tracks for harvesting machines used in the paddy fields. Capacity building With such new launches, the company has set out
Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, Balkrishna Industries Ltd. on a mission to double the global market share from ~ 5.5 per cent to 10 per cent. BKT shall continue to expand manufacturing capacities in line. BKT’s performance in 2021-22 is testimony to the long-term strategy of capitalising on its increasing scale while at the same time maintaining the business agility, paying off. With the ongoing expansion of its product range, BKT takes pride in maintaining a 3200 Stock Keeping Unit
(SKUs). By no means an easy feat! On exports, which are known to account for 83 per cent of sales, the company has attracted 54 per cent of the export business from Europe; 17 per cent in the US and 12 per cent in the rest of the global markets. Domestic sales are estimated to account for 17 per cent in comparison. To support its growth aspirations, the company put up the Waluj 2 greenfield facility into service and a brown field facility at Bhuj. In line with the demand, the company has kept operations agile in case there is a need to ramp up the scale by the second half of 2022–2023. The goal is to breach the total capacity profile of 3.60 lakh Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) when operating at fullscale capacities. BKT expects the initiatives to pay off and expects sales to grow by 10,000 MT, from ~3.20 lakh MT to 3.30 MT in FY23. To promote long-term sustainability, BKT has launched a number of initiatives including greater energy efficiency through two MegaWatt and five MegaWatt solar-powered facilities. The focus on recycling and waste management covers a disciplined waste management system for safe storage, disposal, and waste repurposing. The future targets to achieve carbon neutrality include Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) at all plants by 2025 and a reduction in GreenHouse Gas (GHG) emissions of 25 per cent (scope-1 and scope-2) by that same year. Over the next decade, the aim is to attain a 20 per cent waste reduction from current levels. By 2025, all manufacturing facilities must switch to renewable energy.
Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Product Launch | Ancillaries
Recycled Polyester Tyres
Continental has found a use case in PET Bottles. Sumesh Soman looks at the commercialisation of recycled polyester tyres.
P @SumeshSoman
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ET is in vogue! Tyre manufacturer Continental realised it and was quick to tap the pool of recycled PET bottles or PolyEthylene Terephthalate commonly used for packaging 70 per cent of the soft drinks. Hailed as light, durable, safe and with a smaller carbon footprint compared to alternatives, it’s the most recyclable plastic globally. Using PET bottles in production makes the manufacturer the first to make use of recycled polyester yarn in a new process for volume production. The new high-performance material will be initially used in selected sizes for Continental’s PremiumContact 6 and EcoContact 6 summer tyres, and in the AllSeasonContact tyre. In effect, the company claims to have replaced the conventional polyester in the carcass of the selected tyres. A set of standard passenger car tyres uses the material from around 40 recycled PET bottles. In September 2021, Continental unveiled the inhouse Contyre.Tex technology for the first time. It uses polyester yarn obtained from used PET bottles without any intermediate chemical
Commercial Vehicle July 2022 | www.commercialvehicle.in
steps. This is said to make the technology much more efficient than other standard methods for processing PET bottles into high-performance
polyester yarns. The bottles used for the technology come exclusively from regions without a closed recycling loop. As part of a special recycling
Product Launch | Ancillaries process, the bottles are sorted and mechanically cleaned, after the caps are removed. After mechanical shredding, the PET is further processed into granulate and finally spun polyester yarn. According to Ferdinand Hoyos, Head at Continental Tyre Replacement Business in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the tyres are manufactured using only high performance materials. “We only use high-performance materials in our premium tyre range. From now on, these will include polyester yarn from PET bottles, made in a particularly efficient recycling process,” he assures. Adding that the company brought its innovative Contyre.Tex technology to the production stage in just eight months, he states, the company
u for your attention!
is constantly looking at expanding the share of renewable and recycled materials in its tyres. By 2050 at the latest, we want to use only sustainable materials in our tyre production, he expresses. All tyres with Contyre. Tex technology produced in the upcoming market launch phase come from the Continental tyre plant in Lousado, Portugal. Tyres with Contyre.Tex technology have a special logo on the sidewall with the marking ‘Contains Recycled Material’. Notably, Polyester yarn made from PET has long been used as a material in passenger and light truck tyre assembly. The textile cords absorb the forces of the tyre’s internal pressure and remain dimensionally stable even under high loads and
temperatures. To make tyres even more energy-efficient and eco-friendly across life cycle stages of manufacturing, use and recyclability, Continental continues its intensive research for alternative materials. As a testimony, the premium tyre manufacturer debuted the Conti GreenConcept last year (September 2021) known to make use of polyester from recycled plastic bottles in the carcass at IAA Mobility. For the second season of the all-electric Extreme E racing series held in February 2022, Continental has developed the Contyre.Tex. The support vehicles for this year’s Tour de France will also ply Contyre. Tex tyres. Continental is initially offering the PremiumContact 6, the EcoContact 6 and the AllSeasonContact with Contyre. Tex technology in five sizes each.
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Cover STORY
Solidifying Its Position Daimler India Commercial Vehicles is celebrating a decade of operations. Ashish Bhatia looks at the learnings gathered en route to solidifying its position.
D @atashishbhatia
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aimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) commenced India operations in 2012. Drawing from Daimler Truck AG, Germany DNA, and operating under the umbrella of Daimler Trucks Asia, the aim was to transform the Indian commercial vehicle industry with new benchmarks in engineering, technology, safety and comfort. With this aspiration, it launched the
Commercial Vehicle July 2022 | www.commercialvehicle.in
BharatBenz brand of trucks and buses. In the first decade of operations in the Indian market, DICV has sold over 125,000 vehicles, exported over 50,000 vehicles and more than 200 million parts to over 60 countries around the world. BharatBenz trucks and buses are retailed and serviced out of 275 plus sales and service touch points across the country. With an investment of over Rs.9,560 crore in
a state-of-the-art, green field manufacturing plant in Oragadam near Chennai, the latter being the nerve centre with indigenous R&D and training operations. The R&D operations are known to cater to Indian as well as Daimler Truck Global requirements. DICV produces and sells trucks from 10- to 55-tonne as well as BharatBenz buses, Mercedes-Benz coaches, and bus chassis.
Cover STORY Averred Satyakam Arya – Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, “In the past decade, we have set new benchmarks in the Indian CV industry by introducing fully-built, factory-fitted truck cabins. We were the first CV manufacturer to launch trucks and buses with Bharat Stage VI (BSVI) engines and have set high standards of quality, safety and comfort in the market.” Claimed to strive for one global quality standard, the OEM produces Daimler Trucks’ brands of Fuso, Mercedes-Benz, and Freightliner. These products along with parts are exported to markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. The Mitsubishi Fuso Canter, for example, is a popular choice in the Middle East, in United Arab Emirates. To commemorate the 10th anniversary, DICV also launched the ‘Dashak Edition’ of BharatBenz 1617 Medium Duty Truck (MDT) and 5528 Heavy Duty Truck (HDT) in a fiery red avatar with pearl white chosen for its 36-seater bus. The trucks stand out with the ‘Dashak’ decal commemorating the 10th anniversary. The ‘Dashak Edition’ trucks boast additional features like being fully loaded with air-conditioning, a music system and cameras, and are said to have been introduced for e-commerce and express delivery fleet operators aimed at offering safety and comfort for short hauls. With the BharatBenz 5528 prime mover HDT, the company continues to target long-haul operators having specially tailored the HDT for steel, cement and construction
Satyakam Arya, MD & CEO, DICV
aggregates movement. Preparing for what lies ahead At DICV, the learnings gathered from the first decade of Indian operations are being put to good use. After transitions to BSVI, the company is gearing up for the OBD II, safety regulations expected to influence the industry going forward. Exclaimed Arya, there are lots of learnings and there are no two ways about it! Of the opinion that the company has successfully delivered on its promise of coming out with products that are ahead of the
market, the company today boasts of more fuel-efficient products. Arya claimed, that DICV leads on the Total Cost of Operations (TCO), and sets new safety benchmarks, fronts that the company has delivered on. In line with the infrastructure development taking place in the country, DICV is closely watching the growing penetration of express highways and multimodal logistics parks. As per Arya, it is expected to have a bearing over the medium- to long-term. “People will prefer trucks which can do higher speeds which translates to higher horsepower for a better Turn Around Time (TAT), and lower Total Cost of Operations (TCO). It will mean that the entire product portfolio will shift in this direction,” he explained. Opined Arya, with multi-modal logistics parks coming up across the country, there would be a sharper differentiation between lightduty, medium-duty and heavyduty trucks which presently is not at par with global benchmarks. Attributing the next big ripple effect to the logistics cost in India, estimated to be at 13-14 per cent of the GDP, the company expects it to settle around the eight to 10 per cent mark at par
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Cover STORY
with Germany, for example. Citing fleet owner affinity to BharatBenz trucks, Arya linked the technology focus at DICV as among the key drivers of transformation in the Indian CV market. The company, going forward will go deeper into its existing markets as it develops products for India and continues to solidify its position with both domestic and export aspirations. Aligning with trends like Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) it is preparing itself for what lies ahead. On being asked to pick a drive line of choice, Arya exuded confidence in the strategy of maintaining a portfolio of different fuel options. This includes gasbased options like CNG and LNG instead of being restricted with definitive choices until such time the industry settles down with electric and hydrogen over the long run. He also committed to the push to offer MaaS rather
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than just a product itself. Committed to occupant and pedestrian safety, the company wants to continue defining the market movement. Citing a decision taken early on when entering India, Arya pointed at the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) deciding to only have the factory-fitted, well-engineered steel cabins. “I remember, at that time, the entire CV market had only a ~ 20 per cent penetration on the front. 80 per cent of the market constituted the cowl trucks which then go to a body-builder to be fitted with a wooden cabin. I think we both know, how unsafe that product is when it rolls out of the factory. It’s a half-built cabin,” he expressed. Struggling with the fact that India is the only market now offering a BSVI emission-compliant product, at par with global benchmarks or a notch behind, but when it comes to safety, having a lot of ground to cover. “Even now, an estimated 40 per cent of the trucks sold in this market are cowl,” he quipped. Incorporating sustainability and diversity DICV, according to Arya, is committed to sustainability in a big way. Drawing attention
to having achieved sustainable growth in the domestic as well as export businesses, he said, “we have a plan to accelerate our foray in these two areas, in the coming years. A few key objectives for the next decade are to achieve 100 per cent carbon neutrality in our operations by 2025, become a 100 per cent paper-free organisation by the end of 2023, increase energy selfreliance and have a sharper focus on workplace diversity and culture.” The OEM currently uses 85 per cent of its energy from renewable sources. The company is claimed to have already harnessed solar energy for its manufacturing facility in Oragadam and has laid the foundation for an additional capacity of a 1.3 MW solar photo voltaic plant along the state-of-the-art test track in a 430-acre facility. The existing solar energy plant has a capacity of 3.3 MW. The OEM is additionally claimed to have already achieved 100 per cent recycling of water and as a result, does not depend on external sources of water for manufacturing. The OEM has now turned the focus toward turning 100 per cent carbonfree by 2025. DICV has a 4000 plus diverse, direct and indirect workforce, working across its plant operations in Oragadam, Global Capability Centre (GCC) in Chennai and regional offices pan India. The creation of over 60,000 jobs in its ecosystem covers dealers, suppliers and other stakeholders wherein it plans to enhance the workforce diversity. This is expected to be given shape through multiple initiatives and in turn positively impact the business and culture within the organisation.
Exclusive | Industry Talk
Industry Talk Delivering On Promises In an INDUSTRY TALK SESSION, Satyakam Arya, MD & CEO at Daimler India Commercial Vehicles and Chairman of CII, Tamil Nadu State Council speaks to Ashish Bhatia on DELIVERING ON Promises made in a Successful decade of INDIAN operations.
@atashishbhatia
Q. Where do you see the demand revival coming from? A. The market slowed down because of the slowing GDP growth, and that’s now coming back on its feet. This is leading to new demand and the movement of freight, and therefore demand for trucks. The second important aspect is, that in 2019 itself, the market had started to slow down. First due to the transition to BSVI, and then due to Covid-19. So it’s been three years which is a very long period of fleets not being replaced. Now, when GDP is relatively growing healthier, there is an increased demand for the movement of goods. All the fleet owners are coming back and buying new trucks. This is one major dimension which is rolling out in front of us. The second dimension, which we will see, going forward, and will impact the CV industry is the scrappage policy. The policy has been rolled out but as the infrastructure grows,
this includes the scrappage centres and the testing centres, it will have a good impetus on the demand by way of fleet replacement. The third important dimension is regulations. After transition to Bharat Stage VI, we are gearing up for the OBD II, safety regulations are lined up and these will also influence the industry going forward. The other standalone dimension is the infrastructure as a whole in itself. We have seen the government investing aggressively in infrastructure. Whether it’s the express highways or the multi- modal logistics parks. These will have an impact in the medium- to long-term. People will prefer trucks which can do higher speeds which translates to higher horsepower for a better Turn Around Time (TAT), and lower Total Cost of Operations (TCO). It will mean that the entire product portfolio will shift in this direction. With multi- modal logistics parks coming up across the country, we will see a sharper differentiation between lightduty, medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks which at present is not at par with global benchmarks. The next big impact as a ripple effect will be the logistics cost in India, estimated to be at 13-14 per
cent of the GDP. This should settle somewhere in the region of eight to 10 per cent which would be at par with Germany, for example. These are some of the factors which are influencing how the industry as a whole is structured. Q. How do you look at the defining trends like turning to a gas-based economy with a shift to CNG for example? A. There is an uptick in people adopting gas. We all know the reasons behind it. There is an increase in the price of diesel and there is parity with gas. So even if the product may not deliver the same horsepower or torque, people are ready to compromise to bring down their running costs. I believe India is charting its way to transition away from diesel or gasoline. It’s a mix of blended fuels, it’s a mix of gas whether it’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or Liquefied Nitrogen Gas (LNG) and eventually, it will be electric as well as hydrogen. In the mid-term, I see India taking these directions but over the long-term, I see many of these fuel options as transitory options. This means, eventually, in two or three decades, Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Exclusive | Industry Talk
With multimodal logistics parks coming up across the country, we will see a sharper differentiation between lightduty, medium-duty and heavyduty trucks which at present is not at par with global benchmarks.
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Exclusive | Industry Talk act on it. The entire society and the industry act on it and say we do not deliver what we consider unsafe even if it meets the regulations. We must go above and beyond. I believe, compliance is about doing things right but integrity is about doing the right thing. This has always been our firm belief and going forward we will continue to act on it.
I believe India is charting its way to transition away from diesel or gasoline. It’s a mix of blended fuels, it’s a mix of gas whether it’s Compressed Natural Gas or Liquified Nitrogen Gas and eventually, it will be electric as well as hydrogen. we will settle down with the final solution which could be a mix of electric and hydrogen. Q. Tell us about the longstanding focus on driver ergonomics and occupant and pedestrian safety. How have plant safety standards evolved and how are these redefining the ecosystem? A. Safety is deeply ingrained in our value system. Whether it’s our manufacturing plant, our operations or our products we have always been the best on the bench and defined how the market moves. As one example which is a testimony, when we were entering this market just 10 years ago, we decided we will only have the
factory-fitted, well-engineered steel cabins. I remember, at that time, the entire CV market had only a ~20 per cent penetration on the front. 80 per cent of the market constituted the cowl trucks which then go to a body-builder to be fitted with a wooden cabin. I think we both know, how unsafe that product is when it rolls out of the factory. It’s a half-built cabin. I struggle with the fact that India is the only market now offering a Bharat Stage VI emission compliant product, at par with global benchmarks or a notch behind, but when it comes to safety, we have a lot of ground to cover. Even now, an estimated 40 per cent of the trucks sold in this market are cowl. It’s high time that the government should
The entire society and the industry act on it and say we do not deliver what we consider unsafe even if it meets the regulations. We must go above and beyond. I believe, compliance is about doing things right but integrity is about doing the right thing.
Q. You said it’s just been 10 years since you entered the Indian market. What have been the learnings of the decade gone by and what are the major focus areas for the next decade? A. There are a lot of learnings and no two ways about it. I believe, we have successfully delivered on our promise on many fronts. We began by promising that we will come out with products that are ahead of the market. They are more fuel-efficient, leaders in TCO, and they will set new safety benchmarks. We have delivered on each of these fronts. To give you an example, whenever I meet my customers, they tell me, that if a fleet owner has a BharatBenz and some other brands, the driver has a natural inclination to drive the former. They don’t want to drive another brand. Even while away on a vacation, they make sure that they get the BharatBenz key back on returning. That’s their way of expressing their love for the product. With this focus on technology leadership, we’ve also transformed the CV market in a lot of ways. We will continue to strive for this. It is ingrained in BharatBenz and we will never change course. We also supply to 60 markets worldwide. Going forward, the focus will be to go deeper into these markets. So while we develop products for India, we will also continue to explore Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Exclusive | Industry Talk As Covid19 subsides, India will emerge with the highest economic growth rate, globally. Within India, Tamil Nadu will be the number one state.
newer markets and continue to solidify our position as well where exports are concerned. On the future technology front, we are working internally on fronts like Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) and preparing ourselves for what lies ahead. To sum up, it will mean different fuel options, and also help our push to offer mobility as a solution rather than just a product itself. Q. How difficult is it to convince the Indian customer to look beyond acquisition costs to costs over an entire life cycle when selling mobility as a solution? A. It is the case with a lot of them but not everyone. When we
We also supply to 50 markets worldwide. Going forward, the focus will be to go deeper into these markets. So while we develop products for India, we will also continue to explore newer markets and continue to solidify our position as well where exports are concerned.
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entered the market, we came in with the Total Cost of Operation (TCO) logic. We use to sit across the customer, understand their entire operation and calculate the cost, for instance, over five years. The idea is to explain, that if you buy a BharatBenz, with a slightly higher price than the competition, you will save a lot more in a very short period. This is attributed to better fuel efficiency, better TAT, and also higher safety. We have concluded that customers believe in this ideology. Customers today pro-actively ask for solutions to attain a better TCO. In one exercise, we looked at our entire customer portfolio and found that, on an average, someone who buys a BharatBenz, for the first time, buys two trucks. The second time, the same customer buys eight trucks. The third time they buy 22 trucks on average. This tells you that the Indian customers are very cost-savvy but they also understand what gets delivered as a whole over the long term. Q. You’ve repeatedly quoted the phrase, the more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war. How does one translate it into business strategy at DICV? A. I very distinctly remember I was once on my way to the plant here at Oragadam. This was just after the first lock down. We all had apprehensions at that point and time about
stepping out of the work from home culture and how it would play out. We did everything possible in our hands to ensure the safety of our people. It was then that I read this Malaysian proverb, I found it to closely correlate with the situation faced. Peace is akin to markets being closed so there was less to sell and hence deemed a peaceful time. I decided we must not let our efforts down and we must continue with our mid-to-long-term strategy and not waver from it. It was the time to do more so that when the crisis is over you find yourselves better prepared. I am happy we could go through with it successfully over the past two years. Q. How do you see Tamil Nadu growing in stature beyond current levels to draw investment and find favour from the industry as a potential micro-market? A. I have a very strong belief and confidence on two fronts. As Covid19 subsides, India will emerge with the highest economic growth rate, globally. Within India, Tamil Nadu will be the number one state. We already rank second in terms of GDP after Maharashtra and with all the efforts of the government and the entire industry is putting, Tamil Nadu will be a major attraction for multiple sectors of the economy as far as new investments are concerned. We’ve seen some of these announcements coming in; we’ve seen our honourable Chief Minister leading with participation and industry dialogues to understand their needs, and committing to them, the desired ecosystem to deliver.
8th SIAM AUTOMOTIVE LOGISTICS CONCLAVE
Theme: “Automotive Logistics: Transitioning Towards a Sustainable Future” Date: 18 August 2022 th
Venue: Hotel Le Meridien, Windsor Place, Connaught Place, New Delhi -110001 Time: 09:30 am - 05:30 pm
For more information about the conclave, please visit www.siam.in or write to Mr Kartike Karwal at kartike@siam.in or Call 011 - 47103034
Cover STORY
Green Engine Castings Volvo Group in partnership with Brakes India launched the first green engine castings. Ashish Bhatia with inputs from Raghul Krishnan looks at the strategy to supply IndiaN make and developed castings, globally for select Volvo engines.
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@atashishbhatia
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olvo Group in India together with Brakes India has launched the first green engine castings. The green engine castings will include bearing caps, bearing housing, anchorage and exhaust manifolds developed and made in India by Brakes India. These will be redirected to select Volvo Group engines, globally. Speaking at the landmark launch event held at Naidupeta, Tirupati, in Andhra Pradesh, Kamal Bali, President and Managing Director, Volvo Group committed to becoming a climate-neutral company by 2040. To give a backdrop of
Commercial Vehicle July 2022 | www.commercialvehicle.in
the new development, he cited the re look at the Volvo supply chain and global suppliers based out of India. Bali drew attention to India being the key procurement source for Volvo Group’s global casting requirements. “India is a home base for the Group and we not only ‘Make in India’, but also design, process, sell and source from India to the world. In line with our global sustainability targets and ambitions, we aim to create an environment that is safe and sustainable for future generations while being immersed in advanced technology that goes into making world-
leading commercial vehicles,” he stated. Bali opined, green castings has the potential to kick-start a revolution in the casting manufacturing business for a sustainable future. The commercial production of the green castings will begin in June 2022 itself, he informed. Through the full adoption of the green engine castings process, Volvo Group expects to give shape to a potential reduction in CO2 of up to 0.86 million tonnes at Volvo alone. This is expected to amount to 210 million tonnes for the industry across global foundries. A reason for the green castings to have been
Cover STORY certified by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) - Green Products & Services Council. The Brakes India manufacturing process involves the elimination of toxic chemicals and elements and is claimed to have a zero carbon footprint. It makes use of minimal resources in a manner wherein products are recycled and reused and are topped with eco-friendly packaging. In the process, the company will utilise scrap alloys and raw materials that are 100 per cent radioactive materials free. It also entails recycling 100 per cent of the metallic scrap generated by other industries to be able to manufacture a usable product as the end output. At the plant level, operations will be 100 per cent green powered from solar and wind energy to round off the green cycle. Special attention has been paid to eliminating the use of diesel with ‘Electric Ladle Preheater’ a unique solution from AFECO India. Explained Sriram Viji, Managing Director at Brakes India, it results in the elimination of pig iron, known to be produced in the blast furnace with coal. Added Bali, Volvo has developed a unique technology that helps to eliminate Pig Iron usage with the deployment of Zirconium-based inoculation, controlled chemistry and a specific charge ratio. Green alternatives previously were known to include wet sand moulds. Here green is known to refer to the moisture content ahead of sand being dried out as a result of moulted metal being poured into the mould. It is the clay that helps bind the moisture and the sand helping them stick together. Bentonite clay
and the sand mixed are said to provide strong moulds created on an automated assembly line. To give a perspective, ~42 per cent of cast parts in the USA make use of green sand moulds with no-bake coming in as a second-most economical choice at ~40 per cent. In the past though, critics have questioned the two choices on account of disadvantages like casting defects, a rough surface quality, bad casting dimensions or an unstable casting quality which are expected to be improved upon by the new green castings from Volvo Group and Brakes India. Notably, Brakes India started
its journey with Volvo in 1998. Since then, it has been supplying gray iron, ductile iron, Si Mo and ADI to name a few.. Supplying 18,000-tonne per annum of fully machined, painted and assembled supply conditions, the parts weigh an estimated 0.75 kilograms up to 22 kilograms. These are known to be produced in vertical moulding lines and horizontal moulding lines. Brakes India ensures a consistent delivery precision and PPM of less than five. The manufacturer supplies to over 15 Volvo locations across the European Union and North America. It also supplies to several Volvo tier1 suppliers directly.
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Cover story
Riding The Commercial EV Wave With a common goal of net-zero emissions as the industry, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. doesn’t want to rush with commercialisation. Sumesh Soman finds out how the PV MAJOR is laying a solid foundation to ride the commercial EV wave.
@SumeshSoman
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he industry as a whole is working on a common goal of attaining net-zero emissions. Not just cutting down on tailpipe emissions but by reducing the carbon footprint in the entire value chain. Credit India’s commitment at COP26 or growing customer awareness, vehicles are cleaner today with clean Bharat Stage VI compliant diesel and CNG vehicles on one end of the spectrum and Battery Commercial Electric Vehicles (BCEVs) on the other end. In the case of latter, Commercial Vehicles (CVs) are witnessing a transformation. After buses that were first to ride the electrification wave nearly a decade back, and threewheelers thereafter, today Small
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Commercial Electric Vehicles (SCEVs) up to the four-wheeler goods carrier segment are being electrified and near roll out. Tippers and other categories are gradually following suit. With this backdrop, its quintessential the PV major set a solid foundation. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL) has committed to making its EV available in India for sale by 2025. Notably, the decision comes after the Original Equipment
Manufacturer (OEM) made its intent to stop diesel vehicle production and focus on cleaner options like CNG. The Super Carry LCV sales for the company grew by 235.4 per cent in April 2022 compared to the same period a year ago as a testimony. It also iterated that the government’s target of 30 per cent EV sales by 2030 may be difficult to achieve as the company expects EV penetration
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Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, MSIL
Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director and CEO, Maruti Suzuki
level between 8-10 per cent by 2030, that looks realistically more possible, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytic company. Well aware of trailing behind competition when it comes to the EV mix in its portfolio, the company is confident of recovering lost ground. EVs are a tough market to crack in India as per the company’s new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hisashi Takeuchi. He admitted, “We are a little behind our competitors in introducing the EV models to the Indian market, but we see that, still the market demand for those EVs is niche. Sales of EVs in the Indian market are still very limited.” “That does not mean we are doing nothing about EVs. We have done a very extensive test of our EV utilising our existing models and putting those batteries and motors among other aggregate components into these existing models,” he informed on the sidelines of a presser. Claiming to have carried extensive testing on the front, for over a year with multiple cars in the Indian harsh climatic conditions, shared Takeuchi, its a means to ensure that our EVs are state-of-the-art and up to the demanding environment which is a big challenge. The Total Industry Volume (TIV) for
passenger electric vehicles is 17,802 units. Many are used in the aggregate business model and for last-mile deliveries. Tata Motors led the electric passenger vehicle segment in 2021-22 with total sales of 15,198 units in total, that’s a market share of 85.37 per cent, as per the FDA data. Total electric passenger vehicle retail sales last fiscal (FY2021-22) were 17,802, marking a rise of 4,984 units over FY2020-21. Eyeing growth MSIL is eyeing the top spot even in the EV space regardless of its late arrival to the party. Asserted Takeuchi, “We have been testing and developing models developed for Indian specifications. By 2025, we will introduce an EV but there are plans (for others) to follow. I’m sure that we can be very strong in the EV space when we decide to enter.” The company is in pursuit of a suitable product to be launched in the market and fully aware of the needs in a price-sensitive market that India is. Takeuchi admitted to EVs being an expensive technology and given the nascency and the lack of infrastructure, it will be an uphill task to put out an affordable EV. The company did test an EV in 2019 based on the WagonR platform with the intention of launching it in 2020 but called it off due to lack of
requisite resources and backing from the government. Things have changed since then. Suzuki Corporation had earlier announced an investment of YEN 150 billion or Rs.10,445 crore by 2026 for local manufacturing of battery packs at Sanand, in Gujarat. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on March 19, 2022 on the sidelines of the IndiaJapan economic forum held in New Delhi in the presence of Japan’s Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida and Prime Minister, Narendra Modi along with Toshihiro Suzuki, Representative Director and President, Suzuki Motor Corporation. Kenichi Ayukawa, Managing Director and CEO, MSIL. Speaking at the forum, Toshihiro Suzuki mentioned that Suzuki’s priority was to achieve carbon neutrality with small cars first. He committed to active investment in India in a bid to contribute to the Atmanirbhar Bharat vision of the country. To shape this vision, the company will focus on building the battery manufacturing plant in close proximity to its Gujarat plant. At the same site, under a JV, Maruti Suzuki Toyotsu India (MSTI) will construct a vehicle recycling facility. A similar recycling facility was recently inaugurated by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at Noida, in Delhi NCR. Under the MoU, the company’s wholly-owned arm Suzuki Motor Gujarat Pvt. Ltd (SMG) will invest Rs.300 crore for another battery plant closer to an existing facility by 2026. The company will invest additional Rs.3100 crore for expanding the BEV manufacturing capabilities by 2025 as it treads cautiously.
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Liquid Cooling To The Rescue Battery Management Systems are increasingly finding a use case in liquid cooling. Ashish Bhatia looks at the grey areas of air-cooling that suppliers have overcome.
@atashishbhatia
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riginal Equipment Manufacturers are increasingly opting for liquid-cooled Battery Management Systems (BMS) in their Electric Vehicles (EVs). Drawing from the learnings gathered from liquid cooling in Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicles, casein-point, ICE vehicles using a gaseous liquid or a liquid coolant directed to the heat exchanger and further cooled by air. Prevalent in both cars and motorcycles, the liquid cooling component comprises
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the radiator fan and fan cowl, water pump and a thermostat as standard production equipment. The cooling system has found a use case in EV counterparts, including recently commercialised three-wheelers. With conventional cooling (air cooling) and the lack of standardisation found to make battery packs vulnerable to heat spikes, the case for liquidcooling is stronger, perhaps more than ever before. Liquid cooling in ICE In the case of ICE, water is
circulated to dissipate heat from overheating parts like the cylinder head and blocks. A cooling flan cools the water as it passes through the radiator. According to AIS-137 2015 notification, for vehicles of the categories M and N, liquid cooling circulation, in a testing environment, had to be operated by an engine water pump only. The liquid must be cooled either by the engine radiator or an external cooling circuit where the liquid comes in thermal contact with the engine component.
cover story It was bound to a condition that the pressure loss recorded in the circuit and the pump inlet pressure must match the engine cooling system. The radiator shutter was required to be in an open state all this while. The auxiliaries included the fan, and the thermostat, and were chosen based on the desired net engine power. For the L category of vehicles, the standard production equipment also took into consideration, the engine bonnet and the bonnet air outlet. When measuring the maximum engine torque and the power, the temperature of the coolant at the outlet of the engine was required to be maintained within +/- 5K of the upper thermostatically controlled temperature, in line with the manufacturer’s specifications. Liquid cooling in EVs Drawing from the learnings of liquid cooling in ICE, battery-pack and BMS, suppliers have been able to roll out EV solutions. Just like an overheating engine, the EV heat is traced to the battery pack. Charging and discharging are known to generate heat inside the cells and the interconnection systems. Known to be directly proportional to the square of the current flow, multiplied by the internal cell resistance, and the interconnect systems, it’s the current flow that dictates the heat proportion. This has a direct bearing on the battery performance. The electrochemical system, charge acceptance, battery power output, safety and TCO all are at stake here. To prevent the battery pack from
malfunctioning in sub-zero temperatures, sub-30 degrees and above 40-degrees with the threat of a thermal runaway, the role of BMS is crucial to keep it in an operational range. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the temperature difference between cells must be limited to sub-three to subfour degrees. In liquid-cooling systems, piped cooling is one method. Found to be better at driving
hot air away from the batteries in comparison to air-cooling, its flip side is the limited liquid coolant-carrying capacity. Liquid glycol has found acceptance by manufacturers like Tesla and GM. In this case, heat is transferred through a refrigeration cycle. The coolant has a more even distribution over the cells, as per studies conducted. To give a perspective, there are ~7,000 cells in a Tesla battery pack. In its Model S battery pack, the
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Mohal Lalbhai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Matter OEM is known to have used a metal tube arranged in a serpentine, patented pattern carrying the coolant that in turn comes in thermal contact with the surface of the cells. It is a series arrangement. In contrast, General Motors is known to have made use of aluminium, in a parallel arrangement. Porsche, in its Boxter E, is known to have used a liquid-filled cooling plate from the traction battery. In complete contrast to the above-mentioned approaches, some OEMs prefer to immerse the cells in a nonconducting fluid with a high boiling point. In India, startup company Matter has made tall claims with its refrigerant system aimed at cooling overheated
Rajendra Petkar, Chief Technology Officer at Tata Motors Ltd
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batteries. Mohal Lalbhai, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Matter in a company release stated that “as the safety and performance of battery-powered electric vehicles are integral to their viability and acceptability, Matter has developed a highly purpose-built battery pack that will meet the needs of the electric two-wheeler industry.” Matter Energy 1.0, is claimed to be a breakthrough futuristic battery pack that uses a battery casing known to have been built using a lightweight metal that is thermally conductive compared to alternative materials. Claims Lalbhai, the company has prioritised the safety, battery life, and performance of the pack. Using an Integrated Intelligent Thermal Management System (IITMS) in the battery pack, the company makes use of an active liquid cooling system to ensure optimum performance of the battery elements. Designed along with the battery pack and BMS to suit the “heterogeneity”, the developments are claimed to be in-house. The super-smart BMS is a testimony to the focus on safety, security, reliability
Saurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, Euler Motors and performance of battery packs. it is increasingly being witnessed in CVs. Tata Motors has announced a slew of electric passenger vehicle and commercial vehicle electric platforms leveraging a Common Architecture Shared Technology (CAST). In its Ziptron platform and the Tata ACE EV, the company is known to have deployed liquid-cooled battery packs and has been able to back it up with extensive warranty. Explained Rajendra Petkar, Chief Technology Officer at Tata Motors Ltd., the company drew from the ‘Tata UniEVerse’ where it leveraged synergies with group companies like Tata Technology and external companies like Electra specialising in IoT for the
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electric powertrain. The Ace EV offers a 50 per cent higher range compared to electric three-wheelers. The lithium-ion phosphate battery pack from the company is liquid-cooled and very stable, reliable and thermally suited for Indian duty cycles. With the Euler HiLoad EV, Euler Motors launched the first three-wheeler with a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery pack in the last fiscal. Similar to Tata Motors, Euler claims a 151 km certified range on a single charge. Handling a battery capacity of 12 kWh, coupled with an electric motor with an 11 kW peak rated power and a maximum output of 10.8 kW, the battery pack is again suited for both AC and DC charging and is claimed to maintain optimal temperatures, assuring a higher battery life. The use of a liquid-cooling system has aided in the company offering an extensive battery performance warranty as a testimony of the BMS system being efficient. By maintaining optimal temperatures, claimed Saurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, Euler Motors, the company was able to increase battery life by a margin of two years.
the product development cycle that is simulation intensive, thoroughly tested, and validated for reliability and safety. This approach is very important to be considered while designing and developing the battery pack,” opines Lalbhai. OEMs are seeking support from simulation software using computational models like Computational Flow Design (CFD) to ensure the realworld efficiency of such thermal management systems. According to a Comsol study, the use of time-dependent, and temperature analysis of
the liquid cooling process, and thermal management can be improved and battery performances can be optimised. A MathWorks simulation software helps simulates an entire EV battery cooling system. The refrigerant system is used for cooling the overheated batteries. It represented the refrigeration cycle by the amount of heat flow extracted from the coolant. The system was simulated under either FTP-75 drive cycle or fast charge scenarios with different environment temperatures.
Simulation for realworld applications “For electric vehicles to become mainstream it is pivotal that we focus on Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Localising Ride-Assist Technology Continental Automotive India is in sync with the disruptive shift to localise rideassist technology. Sumesh Soman toured the Manesar plant to see the on ground preparations, in line.
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@SumeshSoman_
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ocalised technology setups have been the ask for a while now. It’s the pace of execution at Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that’s attained newer heights. Government interventions like the Production Link Incentive (PLI) scheme under the ‘Make in India’ program umbrella have made it all the more lucrative. The resultant incentives extended to Advanced Automotive Technology (AAT) has had companies file for eligibility with 20 Champion OEMs granted approval, and the tier supplier approvals expected to follow suit. While the approvals come only now, at Continental Automotive India (Continental) the pro-active work on this road map has begun to fructify as evident from our visit to the company’s Manesar plant, in Haryana.
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Any reduction in Costs of Goods and Services (COGS) is a win-win for stakeholders as per Krishan Kohli, Head of Vehicle Dynamics (VED) and Hydraulic Brake Systems (HBS) at the company. “For the brakes business, I think there is a large amount of localisation that has already been done. In the case of hydraulic brakes, it is northwards of 70 per cent, and for electronic brakes, it is to the tune of 50 per cent,” he revealed. “We are right now working to increase the child parts for callipers and drums and aim to increase the per centage further aimed at boosting the competitiveness and sustainability in the market for the company,” averred Kohli. Continental, caters to a majority of tier1 OEMs in delivering parts and products, for both two- and
four-wheelers, he informed. He further added, “The company stays committed to the market in terms of making investment and having a strong growth vision for the two-wheeler and four-wheeler segments alike. Degree of localisation Localisation is at the core of Continental’s India strategy. In an end-to-end value creation attempt, from R&D to Production, and Sales and Marketing, it was way back in 2016, that Continental set up assembly lines in Gurugram to assemble Antilock Brake Systems (ABS) and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems for two-wheelers and four-wheeler (passenger cars). In 2018, the technology company set up production for ABS, ESC Electronic Control Units (ECU) at its Bengaluru
cover story plant. In the subsequent year, the company achieved a production milestone of one million ABS and ESC ECUs at the plant. In 2020, Continental reached a milestone of 50
million Wheel Speed Sensors (WSS) at its Manesar plant as a testimony to the growing localisation per product in the overall mix. ll of these, as per Kohli, are a direct result of
constant innovations aimed at producing technologies driven by local market requirements backed by a capable R&D setup. Continental’s ‘MiniMAB’
Tech Focus Optimised Curve Braking (OCB) OCB helps riders apply the brake on curves or turns where there is a high tendency of fall due to a wheel lock. The ABS system takes the angled position of the motorcycle (using lean angle information from the continental sensor box) into account. Depending on the incline, the ABS control becomes highly sensitive to prevent wheel lock while providing good braking and steering, thereby improving vehicle handling in curves, making the braking process safer. Traction Control System (TCS) TCS helps reduce the tyre slip on the driven wheel on slippery roads and surfaces while accelerating. It helps to accelerate and manoeuvre efficiently and adequately making the ride safer. It uses the wheel speed sensor information to monitor the rear wheel spin, for
example, if it’s spinning faster than the front wheel. Once the speed difference is sensed, the TCS helps to reduce the engine torque on the spinning wheel. Thus, limiting the chance of slipping or skidding. Electronic Drag Control (EDC) EDC helps to control the excessive wheel slip caused due to engine drag torque and thereby increasing vehicle stability. EDC tends to realise the best balance between vehicle stability and deceleration in engine drag situations by controlling vehicle drag torque and therefore the propulsion at the wheel appropriately. Front Lift Protection (FLP) FLP helps to protect the vehicle from backward rollover and fall because of excessive drive torque. It monitors the wheel behaviour to detect a lift-off situation and quickly adjust engine torque. Thereby
ensuring the right propulsion at the wheel to stop backwards roll over and fall. Motorcycle Hold & Go (MHG) MHG helps the rider to hold the bike uphill or downhill without having to continuously hold the brakes. This enables the rider to relax, work on navigation or maps, take calls, etc. It is activated by a special hand lever application by the rider thus indicating the system to lock the front wheel. Maintaining optimal tyre pressure is crucial for the safe riding and braking performance of two-wheelers. The Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) measures the tyre pressure using a sensor. It transmits the reading and displays it to the rider. Continental Deflation Detection System (DDS) is designed to work without sensors and provide rider alerts in case of a critical situation.
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cover story product (one-channel ABS) is developed for smaller motorcycles and scooters as a testimony of the company’s focus on localisation too. The system prevents the front wheel from locking up, thus helping to prevent crashes or any instability in the vehicle. This is also effective in combination with a mechanical drum brake on the rear wheel. MK100MAB product (twoChannel ABS) enhances safety by preventing both front and rear wheels from locking up on
vehicles that have disc brakes on both the front and rear wheels. MK100 MAB product (two-Channel ABS) enhances safety by preventing both front and rear wheels from locking up on vehicles that have disc brakes on both the front and rear wheels. MK100 MIB product (two-channel ABS with Integral Brake Function) provides higher safety and comfort features like Motorcycle Hold & Go (MHG), Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Emergency Brake Assist
(EBA). The company currently employs more than 192,000 people in over 58 countries. Shopfloor sojourn With over a decade of presence in the Indian market, Continental operates across 14 locations with seven plants, a large tech centre in Bengaluru. Its workforce includes an estimated 8,000 people that form the backbone of its vision to meet the objective of tech localisation. The plant is fed by a warehouse that can hold up
Advanced Rider Assistant Systems (ARAS) Blind Spot Detection (BSD) BSD monitors blind spots for the rider on the adjacent lanes with a radar sensor and can provide visual warnings to the rider in case of any approaching vehicles. As an enhancement, this system can also indicate hazardous lane changes through the Lane Change Assist (LCA) feature. Rearwardfacing radar sensors scan the road area behind and adjacent to the motorcycle, signalling a warning when a lane change is not recommended.
Forward Collision Warning (FCW) FCW alerts the rider by giving a visual warning when the system detects a high risk of a collision with the vehicle in front by using a front radar sensor. Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) ACC enables motorcyclists to have a more relaxed and safe riding experience for long journeys. This intelligent function always ensures a safe distance to the vehicle in front offering a smoother ride. It detects relevant objects in front of the vehicle
by a radar sensor, even when riding in an inclined position. It performs an automatic correction of the motorcycle’s speed. Emergency Brake Assist (EBA) EBA is one such technology, which takes the FCW a step further, indicating the need for an appropriate action. The system detects an imminent collision with a vehicle ahead or with an obstacle. It first warns the rider and then supports the rider by initiating the braking manoeuvre.
Liquid-Cooling system on the Tata ACE EV
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cover story to 2500 pellets. Interestingly, the single-channel ABS line is controlled by women and impresses with its output of over 800,000 units annually. The shopfloor is digitised to the extent of being paperless with critical metric being relayed on handheld tabs and common screens built on a sustainable and highly efficient. On interacting with the Plant Manager, Continental Automotive Brake Systems Ltd., Anudeep Garg, it was learnt that the assembly line rely on an elimination protocol. As per the protocol, a defective part won’t make it to the next bay as the entire system is wired to segregate faulty parts and eliminate their participation further in the process. Garg, drew attention to the shopfloor also being temperature sensitive wherein each personnel is cleansed before entering. A machine is tasked with neutralising any static charge that one carries on self. “This, in turn, helps the shopfloor, produce efficiently, helping to avoid any untoward incidents,” he pointed.
means zero accidents, zero injuries and zero fatalities,” expressed Kohli. Citing the progress made on active safety systems like the AntiLock Braking System (ABS) and Combined Braking System (CBS), and passive inclusions like ride modes and other sensor developed safety nets, Kohli drew attention to the rider community, graduating to bigger bikes and with it creating a pull for advanced rider safety features. “A performance-oriented class of riders will demand better safety features and soon we can expect these in the market,” he opined. Continental is working with multiple OEMs, both at home and abroad, collaborating to test out these safety features. Kohli expects the ARAS functions to be mandated in the two-wheeler market over the next couple of years. The features like hill hold assist, rear lift protection, optimised curve braking will
make it to markets soon, he mentioned. Of the firm belief that OEMs are responding to the pull for safety features with Continental products expected to enter the market ahead of mandates requiring OEMs to do so, one can expect OEMs to soon wanting to integrate these into their vehicle. This is organic, quipped Kohli. On the price sensitivity associated with the Indian market, Kohli explained, “People look at two-wheelers as the cheapest mode of transport here and advanced safety features are seldom a factor when it comes to a common two-wheeler buyer.” Admitting to the segment witnessing a substantial hike due to higher input costs, Kohli expects the rollout of advanced technology to be a little delayed than anticipated pre-Covid19. When the time is ripe, Continental, concluded Kohli, will be ready to bear the fruits of localisation and align with the future foresight as envisioned.
Active and passive safety The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) feature is boasted quite highly by global OEMs (in cars and commercial vehicles). The two-wheeler counterparts are not far behind, asserted Kohli. Advanced Rider Assistance Systems (ARAS) here found an important mention. The Manesar plant is learnt to play a crucial role in the Continental set-up. “The company believes in ‘Vision Zero’ and is working towards it. It essentially Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Exclusive | Industry Talk
Industry Talk Committed to India
In an INDUSTRY TALK SESSION, Krishnan Kohli, Head of Vehicle Dynamics (VED) and Hydraulic Brake Systems (HBS) at Continental Automotive India speaks to Sumesh Soman on localisation and India commitment.
@SumeshSoman_
Q. What are the localisation efforts at Continental Automotive India? A. Continental has been in the Indian market for over a decade now. And we have a presence across 15 locations where we operate nine plants. There is a large tech centre we have in India, and upwards of 4,000 plus people supporting all the business units we like to call a configuration business unit. I am directly responsible for two business units. And then we also have both the support for the regional markets and the export markets. For example, we support Japan using the R&D Engineering team sitting out of Bengaluru. We are leveraging the talent here. It is part of the competency building strategy. We are committed to India where we are invested heavily. For the brakes business, I think there is a larger localisation in the case of hydraulic brakes. It’s upwards of 70 per cent and then the three product technologies that we have are actuations. We also have drum brakes and callipers that we briefly saw in the plant tour for the electronic brakes, which is ABS and ESC. There
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are three such assembly lines we have and we are working towards increasing the localisation of child parts to drive competitiveness and sustainability in the market. We have a strong growth vision both on the two- and fourwheeler market. So partially, I would also like to credit the government’s focus on the legislation on safety. But within continental too, we have defined a ‘Vision Zero’. We want to drive zero fatalities, zero injuries, and zero accidents. Q. What are the upcoming safety regulations that you are focused on? A. Specific to two-wheelers, over the last couple of years, we did see a lot of focus from the government and the OEMs. And then players like us feel there is a whole ecosystem which has to work hand in hand. And that’s the reason I’m picking the key pillars and counting them as part of the ecosystem. In April 2019, the Government of India put in a regulation of ABS getting into the 135 cc and heavier than the 125 cc two-wheelers. There was also a regulation in tandem
We are leveraging the talent here. It is part of the competency building strategy. We are committed to India where we are invested heavily.
Optimised Curve Braking (OCB) is required especially for the curve riding and the Rearwheel Lift-off Protection (RLP). Drawing from the four-wheeler safety, the two-wheeler market is also gearing up to focus on cyber security and advanced rider assist functions like blind-spot detection, traffic signal alerts and adaptive cruise control function besides multiple lane change assist functions. on CBS. ABS was legislated in April 2019, thereafter in 2020 onwards, the government has been driving relatively simpler inclusions but higher on impact to rider safety. Footrest and hand holds, a pillion guard on the rear wheel are some initiatives taking the market closer to the 300 cc segment. When you go into the heavier side of the vehicles, riders are looking for performance modes and that’s where the ride modes come into play. Beyond this, there is Optimised Curve Braking (OCB)
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required especially for the curve riding and the Rear-wheel Lift-off Protection (RLP). Drawing from the four-wheeler safety, the two-wheeler market is also gearing up to focus on cyber security and advanced rider assist functions like blind-spot detection, traffic signal alerts and adaptive cruise control function besides multiple lane changes assist functions. We are currently engaged with the many key OEMs in the Indian market and overseas as
well, where we are working on some of these functions currently not legislated. They come from product legislation. We are already engaged and working on these topics with our customers. Q. Would you be able to share a time line for the commercial rollouts or introduction to the market? A. For functionality in the two-wheeler segment, it might take a couple of years in India to advance. Ride modes,
OCB, RLP, right hill hold assist, are expected to come in much earlier. We are actively working with some key OEMs across the country, South and North to introduce these functions. The window for some of these functions is very small. Will it come as part of the government regulation and mandate, maybe not. The OEMs based on consumer feedback are wanting to work on advancing technology that also extends to advanced lighting systems. Commercial Vehicle www.commercialvehicle.in | July 2022
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Game Changer
Breaking boundaries The simulation tool from Ansys, Inc looks promising. Deepti Thore checks how it helps engineers break the design and innovation boundaries.
C @DeeptiT9
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ompleting 50 years of relentless innovation, Ansys, Inc. is singularly focused on giving engineers the clarity and confidence to simulate their way towards transformational innovation. The company through its simulation tool is empowering engineers to break the design and innovation
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boundaries. It is providing them with the ability to understand how a product works or it doesn’t in the real world. It’s simulation tool has not only become a superpower which enables faster time-to-market but it also lowers manufacturing costs, improves quality and decreases risk of failure. “In vehicle engineering, Ansys
provides the most accurate simulation capabilities tailored for the detailed engineering needs of vehicle technology,” informed Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President – India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys, Inc., these solutions enable the simulation of vehicle systems comprehensively with fully integrated structural, crash,
Game Changer fluids, thermal, electromagnetics, electronics, optics, software and systems simulation solutions. The evolution of simulation in India and globally is driven by urbanisation, growth in population, regulations, environmental concerns, pandemic, and an increased demand for sustainability. Hence, the CV industry is witnessing a paradigm shift in adopting multiple technologies in its value chain. The nextgeneration simulation tool helps the industry to innovate faster from the component to the system of systems. Prevalent in all segments and
at all stages of vehicle design, from aerodynamics to battery management system testing, simulation enables rapid, riskfree testing and development. Depending upon the type of tool or product, Ansys’ comprehensive suite of software places demands on computing and hardware resources that can vary significantly from one model to another. Factors that determines the optimal computing hardware include model physics, model size, model complexity and how fast results are needed. Depending on the customer requirement Ansys experts provide recommendations about the right set-up, confirmed Rafiq. The need for the tool The CV industry today demands substantially higher levels of quality, reliability and durability while being cost-effective, and competitive. Significant challenges of various types confront the CV industry today including the stringent emission regulations, strict crash worthiness or occupant safety legislation, fast changing customer preferences and ever-increasing demand for better fuel economy, improved vehicle performance and reliability. Simulation plays a key role in electric vehicles, vehicle engineering, ADAS and Autonomous Vehicles and Safety Engineering. They enable rapid electric and hybrid vehicle innovation for both component and system levels in EVs. Some key applications of simulation include batteries and battery management systems, fuel cells, power electronics, electric motors, and the integrated electrified powertrain system. “In ADAS and Autonomous
Vehicles, safety by design and safety by validation are crucial factors,” exclaimed Rafiq. “We support customers from highfidelity physics-based sensor modelling to ISO26262 and AUTOSAR compliant embedded software development which enables engineers to meet industry required safety standards at a dramatically lower cost and achieve a much faster development cycle,” he added further. The company’s physics based CV digital twin solution spans critical vehicle engineering disciplines including exteriors, interiors, chassis, powertrain and electricals. Electronic Circuit Simulation According to Rafiq, Integrated Circuit (IC) components are part of nearly every major electronics application. Many emerging market segments require reliable operations for 10 to 15 years, even in severe environments. Most IC reliability assessments, however, only focus on meeting the demand of consumer applications that last an average of five years. Robust predictions of IC life in modern, high-reliability applications require a different approach. With a foundation in reliability and semiconductor physics, the Ansys team uses simulation, testing, and teardown analysis to define IC failure risk in specific applications and identify reliability drivers. Whether you are trying to reduce component integration risk in a new application or solve IC reliability challenges in a severe environment, Ansys experts have the experience and resources to help, asserted Rafiq. Traditional simulation and modelling techniques for
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Game Changer ICs require extensive design, manufacturing, and test information that is not typically available to IC integrators and product designers. The company’s approach to IC reliability assessment helps designers mitigate reliability concerns early in the development process, using information about technology node and functional blocks to predict susceptibility to hot carrier injection, negative bias temperature instability, time-dependent dielectric breakdown, and other common IC failure mechanisms. This approach allows company to simulate the reliability of ICs in application-specific environments, without access to detailed IC design information. Ansys has centres in Pune, Noida and Bengaluru. Its R&D operations in India are the second largest for the company, outside the US. The
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company is also working on some new technologies for enterprise solutions and cloud technologies, informed Rafiq. Competitive edge Macro trends, such as the development of autonomous vehicles and the drive toward environment friendly electric vehicles, influence the increased demand for simulation in the CV sector. Simulation is today used by CV designers to test and develop new ideas in a multitude of ways from the body of the CV and scan through engine design, battery system testing, and finally, advanced driver assistance features and autonomous vehicles. Witnessing adoption of simulation beyond product development today, the company uses it in ideation stages, material selection, manufacturing, production
as well as maintenance and end of life of the products. In order to maintain competitive edge and bring products to the market faster, it is crucial to get it right the first time and that is where engineering simulation helps designers. Simulation driven product development will pave way for localisation of design and equipment manufacture. The company is helping its customers in the localising the development and manufacturing. Ansys has also tied up with many of the academia which have their own incubation centres and a lot of in-house start-up companies, allowing them to take the help of the faculties there. With India’s manpower and the competencies, it is possible to think global. “With extraordinarily complex systems of modern vehicles, simulation is the future of transportation and mobility,” Rafiq concluded.
Exclusive | Industry Talk
Industry Talk Driving Innovation With Standard Tools
In an INDUSTRY TALK SESSION, Rafiq Somani, Area Vice President – India and South Asia Pacific, Ansys, Inc speaks to Deepti Thore about next-gen simulation and engineering tools BEING PREFERRED FOR INNOVATION IN THE CV INDUSTRY.
@DeeptiT9
Q. Your idea behind introducing the simulation tool? A. The CV industry today demands substantially higher levels of quality, reliability and durability while being cost-effective, and competitive. With the next-generation of simulation and engineering tools, we can exponentially innovate to deliver experiences of the future to the market faster. In the automotive industry as a whole, simulating the digital twin of extremely complex products throughout the product life cycle is what will help in the achievement of 1000x faster innovation while improving safety and performance. Q. Who are your major clients and what are the milestone projects that you’ve executed with them? A. Competition is intense in the automotive systems and components business. Best-in-class simulation capabilities are necessary to thrive
in this global race. When it comes to automotive, most of the leading players in the market are our clients. Q. Is simulation equally prevalent in passenger and commercial vehicles as part of the automotive spectrum? A. Simulation is prevalent in all segments and at all stages of vehicle design, from aerodynamics to battery management system testing, simulation enables rapid, risk-free testing and development. Development in simulation reduces design lead times and increases time to market. Automotive manufacturers are facing entirely new challenges as they develop electric vehicles with longer ranges,
internal combustion engines with better efficiency, and autonomous vehicles that will disrupt the vehicle ownership paradigm. As supporting technologies emerge, such as embedded machine learning, 5G, and new methods of manufacturing, carmakers must innovate at a pace previously not experienced. We are at the cusp of the largest technological transformation in history with the convergence of multiple technologies and mega trends that will revolutionise the automotive industry and simulation is highly prevalent in passenger and commercial vehicles as well.
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Exclusive | Industry Talk
Q. Does it extend to aerospace and defence? A. Our simulation solutions deliver the significant product life cycle cost reductions that the aviation industry demands while accelerating the technological innovation required for future success. Around the world, companies use Ansys simulation solutions to reduce costs and improve safety and sustainability, while delivering the future of airborne mobility. Simulation enables engineers to innovate and optimise the performance of aerospace assets across their life cycle. By deploying physics-based simulation across all phases of the acquisition process, from technology maturation to engineering, manufacturing, deployment and operations, defence leaders can significantly accelerate technology modernisation initiatives and optimise sustenance to dramatically improve equipment operational availability. Ansys simulation solutions help accelerate modernisation and optimise the sustenance of defence technology from the microchip to the mission. Q. Tell us about the aftermarket services bundled into your simulation tools? What is the value-add over the product life cycle? A. Ansys specialises in simulation as a service and is focused on assessing and improving the reliability of electronics. Whether your design includes complex material or structural behaviour and interactions; timevarying mechanical, electrical and thermal loads; or innovative thermal management solutions, the Ansys team has the tools, expertise and infrastructure to tackle your most
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demanding product reliability simulations. Our commitment to quality is evident in every facet of Ansys products and services, from drafting customer-driven product requirements to delivering quick and accurate support. Live phone support and the online customer portal are convenient ways to submit requests. The Ansys Learning Forum is the go-to place for students, educators, researchers and industry engineers to engage with peers and Ansys experts. Any time, day or night, the customer portal gives you instant access to resources for Fluids, Structures, Electronics & Electromagnetics, Optics, System simulation, digital twin and embedded software development solutions and cloud. Q. Are tier1 and tier2 suppliers of components as likely to benefit from the tools? A. With today’s modular and featurerich vehicles, suppliers play a large role in innovation and product development. Suppliers meet ambitious goals of innovating and developing new products in a very short duration with the help of virtual development validation approaches enabled by simulation. Ansys’ automotive component design solutions enable engineers to deliver these innovations faster through rapid virtual prototypes and testing. Q. What is the proportion of components manufacturers in your clientele? A. We work with many component manufacturers due to the ease that simulation provides them. Almost every component manufacturer
uses Ansys simulation at some stage of their product development. Q. Your take on the future of the automotive simulation market in India. What are the next mega trends to watch out for? A. The simulation software market was valued at USD 7.80 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 15.09 billion by 2026. The simulation market in India is promising according to the numbers. We are seeing the industry focusing on electrification and selfdriving technology. New age cars with new age features are what customers want and that is what the vehicle makers are striving to provide them with. The future car will thus be electric, autonomous, connected and shared. We are looking at smart mobility. Q. What are your growth areas in the near to medium term? A. Ansys India, is Great Place to Work Certified’ company, aims to make India its biggest Asian market. For this, we are working with multiple industries including Automotive, Aerospace, Defense, Energy, Healthcare, High Tech and Industrial Equipment. Being a completely different market when compared to many other countries globally, Ansys in India is one of the important markets for the software company. Ansys’ India strategy calls for special attention, especially as some of their solutions are also being used in select defence programs. Our products are global and though we bring in standard software solutions for the globe, we work with Indian OEMs to bring customised products that suit the Indian market.
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Game Changer
Tyre Exports And Replacement Demand The tyre industry is banking on exports and replacement demand to drive growth. Ashish Bhatia weighs in on the tailwinds and the headwinds.
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ll through the pandemic marred fiscal, the tyre industry turned adversities into opportunities. If there were headwinds like the unavailability of Natural Rubber (NR) and the shortage of performance tyres, the industry tactically dealt with them to the extent possible with an emphasis on encouraging local produce by Indian growers. The segment also benefitted from the tailwinds like government interventions restricting high volumes of import, revised axle-load norms compelling
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OEMs to re-engineer, demand for replacement tyres and the buoyancy of Indian exports. At a time when international trade was faced with disruptions owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, tyre exports from India are known to have registered a 70 per cent growth. “The export performance bears testament to the ability of the Indian tyre industry to meet the rising expectations from India in the new geopolitical scenario despite the odds of challenging times”, stated Satish Sharma, Chairman of Automotive Tyre
Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and President - the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres Ltd. Compared to the Farm/ Agri and Off The Road (OTR) tyres and Industrial tyres as erstwhile the largest exported tyre categories from the country, the Truck & Bus Radial (TBR) tyre exports are said to have improved in their ranking. The TBR exports registered a 2.5X growth over the last three years, from Rs.1263 crore in FY19 to Rs.3095 crore in FY22. Sharma attributes
Game Changer
Satish Sharma, Chairman of Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA) and President - the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (APMEA), Apollo Tyres Ltd. the growth to the new radial facilities set up by Indian tyre manufacturers said to be attaining global, technology benchmarks for an impressive run. The renewed positioning is further bolstered by India’s global standing as a reliable supplier of products on the whole. “The industry is vastly helped by the Atma Nirbhar policy of the Government aimed at creating an enabling environment for the growth of the industry. The curb
Top 5 Export Markets for Indian Tyres USA
19% Germany
7%
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Brazil UK
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France
on indiscriminate import of tyres has helped the industry increase size and scale of production and align with global supply chains,” explains Sharma. He also hailed the MoRTH notification on tyres expected to benefit users. Expected to help customers make more informed choices with respect to key parameters post AIS 142:2019 comes into effect coupled with the voluntary phase of star label by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), he opined, the standards meant for the betterment once settled would enable customers to understand the price-value equation of products being bought, basis standards. Notably, the Indian make tyres are exported to over 170 countries in the world including some of the most discerning markets in North America and Europe. Led by the US which dominates as the largest market for Indian tyres at 19 per cent of the overall tyres exports, the top five export markets in FY22 also included Germany, Brazil, the UK and
France as per the Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India data (Refer adjoining chart). Optimistic about the export potential, Sharma opined that the tyre industry has the potential of further doubling exports from India over the next three to four years (~Rs.6190 crore). The Industry is also optimistic about the demand for replacement tyres (recommended to be changed every five to six years ) inclusive of the demand from the used Passenger Vehicles (PV) and the Commercial Vehicles (CV) business. Here, the estimates of the used PV market (at ~ 7X of the new PV market) and the used CV market (at ~ 3X the new CV market) are expected to play their part. The sector is known to derive 60 per cent of its volume from the replacement market and 27 per cent from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). The rest (~13 per cent) is attributed to exports. Setting expectations right, Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings states in a study,
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Game Changer “Demand from the replacement market is expected to normalise to ~ four per cent growth this fiscal from ~12 per cent last fiscal. OEM demand should grow ~12 per cent driven by CVs owing to higher government spending on infrastructure and improving fleet utilisation. OEM demand from the PVs should be healthy given the rise in personal incomes and strong consumer preference for personal mobility. However, demand from the two-wheeler and tractor OEM segments will continue to be modest.” He drew attention to exports growing at the rate of 13-15 per cent on a high base of over 45 per cent growth last fiscal owing to costcompetitiveness, and benefits from China plus one strategy of global OEMs. He also cited the buoyant demand for OTRs in the US and Europe. Supply chain bottlenecks Like the affected industries, globally, weighed down by the supply-chain bottlenecks, the industry value chain is
Courtesy International Rubber Study Group
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Anuj Sethi, Senior Director, CRISIL Ratings expected to be streamlined in due course of time. Sharma emphasises the need to address headwinds in the domestic market, on a war footing. “Certain roadblocks faced by the tyre industry domestically need to be addressed on priority to provide a fillip to the exports,” he mentions. The domestic issues cited are access to Natural Rubber (NR) a key raw material on which India needs to overcome a substantial deficiency. As an example, the tyre industry needs to adhere to pre-import conditions for
NR import against (tyre) export obligation. According to Sharma, it makes the operations very constrictive with a direct bearing on the export performance. Echoing a similar viewpoint, Sethi cited the over 20 per cent surge in NR prices, and that of crude-based inputs such as carbon black and nylon tyre cord by 40-50 per cent. “These account for ~70 per cent of the raw material cost of tyre makers,” he informed. In a domino effect, growth realised on the exports front is expected to benefit the entire rubber value chain that includes key stakeholders like the million tyre growers largely dependent on the tyre industry’s growth prospects. On the supply-side, the industry expects operating margins to rise to ~ 12 per cent from a low of 10 per cent (2012 levels ) courtesy of price hikes to ease the inflationary pressures. The study expects better cash accruals to help fund higher capital expenditure and keep debt metric healthy at the top six manufacturers accounting for ~80 per cent of the Rs.75,000 crore sectorial revenue. Sethi concluded, that CapEx is expected to rise to ~Rs 5,000 crore this fiscal on the back of improving demand in comparison to ~ Rs.3,700 crore on an annual basis over the past two fiscal. Notably, capacity utilisation at manufacturers is still below 70-75 per cent pulling the CapEx outlay lower than the annual average of ~Rs.6,200 crore between 2018-20. All eyes will be on further waves of the pandemic, semiconductor shortages weighing on the PV demand and the raw material prices from hereon, concludes, Rajeswari Karthigeyan, Associate Director, CRISIL Ratings.
Game Changer
In-Cabin And External Monitoring Systems Infineon has attained new heights in smart radar sensor technology. Deepti Thore finds distinctive capabilities in its latest offering.
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ith the rising demand for safety and comfort features and an increase in sensor-based technology in commercial vehicles, the automotive electronic market is peaking at the right time. The interior systems of the cabin are reshaping to provide a holistic driving experience. Radar sensor solutions are addressing numerous passive safety applications like left-behind child, pets or valuables detection, monitoring driver vitals and occupancy sensing with micro motions monitoring capability. Addressing this need for incabin and external monitoring systems, Infineon has rolled out the BGT60ATR24C, XENSIV™ 60GHz radar sensor. Powered by an embedded algorithm, the sensor can be easily installed in vehicles for rapid prototyping. While the temperatures are rising in summer, it has become necessary to note that temperatures inside the parked
vehicles can reach upto 70 degrees Celsius posing a danger for children and pets left behind in the car with such disturbing fatalities coming to light. The automotive radar sensor from Infineon Technologies AG, In-Cabin Monitoring Systems (ICMS) detect micro-movements as well as vital signs of leftbehind infants and pets, and sound the alarm for drawing attention. In addition, the compact and cost-effective chipset addresses external applications such as frontend radar for gesture sensing, high-resolution Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radars for distance measurement, short range sensing operations, as well as hidden sensing applications in the radome. The capability The BGT60ATR24C enables 4 GHz ultra-wide bandwidth FMCW operation in a small package. The core functionality of BGT60ATR24C is to transmit FMCW signal via one of the two Transmitter Channels (TX) and receive the echo signals from the target object on the four Receiving Channels (RX). The platform operates in 58–62 GHz with a continuously usable bandwidth of 4 GHz. Configuration of the sensors and data collection are done
with a digital interface. The integrated state machine enables independent data acquisition with power mode optimisation for lowest power consumption. The size- and space-optimised solution has two TX as well as four RX and offers excellent thermal management. The sensor is AEC-Q100/101 qualified and offers maximal re-use with various antenna topologies. The BGT60ATR24C shield is designed to showcase the capabilities of the BGT60ATR24C. This device offers customers design flexibility in terms of their desired antenna configuration. It consists of two transmit and four receive channels. The BGT60ATR24C shield facilitates fast prototyping and system integration, as well as initial product feature evaluation. This board offers developers the flexibility to choose their own platform depending on their preferred use cases. The sensor incorporates various use cases, serving a broad array of applications - including presence detection, LBC, ROA, proximity sensing, people counting/tracking, gesture recognition, monitoring vital signs, etc. Presence detection may only require 1 mW of power in the sensor under certain circumstances. In an automotive context, it can be of value in ROA, LBC and dashboard control.
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