Indian market Opportunity for Global Automotive High Tech suppliers

Posted July 2, 2020

Automotive industry is a very complex ecosystem in itself. India, which is one of the largest automotive markets in the world, has over the years, evolved into a flourishing automotive ecosystem.

Multiple factors like strong regulatory push, growth of the economy, changing consumer preferences etc. make Indian economy a very lucrative destination, especially for high tech suppliers located across the globe.

Automobile sector has already started embracing major shifts; evolution of CASE – Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric Vehicle is one such shift. High tech suppliers will find huge business potential in India due to this shift. Similarly, excellent opportunities exist in various User Experience areas as well. In this article, we will be specifically talking about opportunities that await global high tech suppliers in the Indian automobile market.

For the past few years, the borders between technologies are getting blurred. A great product of today’s times is not created, depending on just one type of technology. Working in silos is biggest risk any manufacturer can take these days. Let us take an automobile as an example. Unlike a few decades ago, today, automobiles are much more than their engines. Various safety features, user experience features, connectivity options etc. are parameters of equal deliberation from the buyers. As a result, today’s automobile is not a ‘mechanical’ marvel. Rather, it is a complete package and expertise from diverse streams come together to make a vehicle that is successful commercially.

Because of this shift, high-tech suppliers are a crucial part of the automobile industry and their capabilities can make or break the success of any new automobile project.

WHY INDIA ?

World's 5th largest automotive market as of 2019

global manufacturing hub catering to local as well as global markets

strong government push for Electric vehicles and charging infrastructure

consumer shift towards feature rich cars

India to produce 22 million electric vehicles by 2026

india to have 40% of global battery demand by 2027-28

After a contraction in the current financial year, India’s economy is forecast to bounce back with a sharp growth rate of 9.5 per cent next year.

- Fitch Ratings (Source : PTI, 10th June 2020.)

Maruti and Hyundai expect 2020 production at 70% of 2019.

(Source : economic times, 01 July 2020)

What makes India a promising automobile market globally?

Growing Economy

India is one of the fastest growing economy in the world, growing at over 6% p.a. for last 10 years. Numerous institutions and experts have predicted that Indian economy will bounce back post COVID- 19. India received FDI of $49 billion in 2019 and ranks among top 10 countries. Above all, due to the large population of young individuals, demographic dividend of India is expected to last till 2055.

Large Market Size

India is fifth largest automobile market in the world which is expected to grow further. While automobile sector is facing some disruptions globally like rise of electric vehicles, personal vs shared mobility etc., under any scenario Indian market has attractive growth prospects. For high tech suppliers across the globe, India has a host of opportunities.

LEAPFROGGING IN REGULATIONS :

India, which was till now known to be a laggard country for Regulations, has been showing aggressive push at the policy level. The government has very aggressive road map for clean and safe mobility. India successfully accomplished its target of a direct jump from BS4 to BS6 and many more such big decisions are expected in the fields of active & passive safety, pedestrian safety, e mobility, fuel economy norms etc. It s important to note that such radical changes create a huge opportunity for high tech global suppliers, such required technologies not being available locally.

CHANGE IN CONSUMER PREFERENCES:

Till very recently, Indian customer was known to be cost conscious and mileage driven. Over the last few years, the consumer mindset has been changing distinctly towards more aspirational & feature packed cars. Because of this shift, car makers are trying their best to provide innovative features in their cars. As a result, they are more than ever looking for high tech suppliers.

INDIA EMERGING AS A GLOBAL R&D HUB FOR
AUTOMOTIVE :

Almost every automotive manufacturer and tier 1 have their Global R&D centres in India. Most of them have large global projects being fully handled by the teams here in India, which means, a strong India presence can prove to be a gateway for global level exposure for the foreign High tech suppliers. We will be looking at this particular aspect in more details in a separate article, coming up soon.

INDIA MANUFACTURES FOR GLOBAL MARKETS :

While India is one of the largest automotive markets, leading manufacturers use India as a cost effective export production base, exporting to UK, Japan, Australia, Middle East, ASEAN – where the cars need to have features as per the regulations & market requirements in those markets.

What’s Going To Happen In India Over Next Decade Opening Up Huge New Opportunities?

STRONG PUSH FOR VEHICLE ELECTRIFICATION :

Though the present sales figure for EVs are modest, a huge growth is expected due to the road map laid out by NITI AAYOG, the Indian government think tank. As per this roadmap, by 2023, all 3 wheelers, by 2025, all 2 wheelers below 150cc, by 2026, all Taxis and by 2030, all inter-city buses sold will be electric. This will create huge need for all suppliers of components, systems, technology, software & expertise for Electric Powertrain & Charging. According to the Rocky Mountain Institute, India would have 40% of the global battery demand by 2027-28.

CARS WILL BE CONNECTED, SAFER AND RICH IN
USER EXPERIENCE :

Some of the ADAS features getting popular in Indian market are TPMS, Adaptive front lighting, Driver monitoring, Parking Assist and Blind Spot Detection. Along with these, certain User Experience features becoming popular in Indian market include : connected Cars & IOT , HMI Devices , Infotainment Screens & HUD, Voice Assistants and Smart surfaces.

Conclusion :

From the above discussion, one can easily conclude that India is the place to be for high tech suppliers, located anywhere across the world. While Indian market is full of opportunities, it also has its own challenges. Please write to us at sudhir.nerurkar@quanzen.com to know more about expanding your High Tech business in India.

Here are India’s sales figures and global rankings for FY 2019. As it can be seen clearly, India is one of the largest automotive markets and hence, a potential consumer base for global high tech suppliers.

Why global High-techs from Can Find Huge Opportunities in India?

A Case to consider

So far, India was known to be a laggard country. Recently, Indian government decided to do a jump from BS4 to BS6 and implemented it successfully. To implement this transition, many of the local technology suppliers to the OEMs were ill equipped and most of the car makers depended on solutions from high-tech suppliers.

Due to strong regulatory push, we are expecting many such regulatory jumps in the future; global technology suppliers can well leverage these opportunities.

As per the guidelines issued by NITI AAYOG, a central government think tank,

By 2023 : All three wheelers being sold to be electric.

By 2025 : All two wheelers below 150 cc being sold to be electric

By 2026 : All taxis being sold to be electric

by 2027 : All intercity buses being sold to be electric.

As per Rocky Mountain Institute, India would have 40% of the global battery demand by 2017-28.