One of the pioneering manufacturers of leaf springs and parabolic springs for commercial vehicles in the country, Auto Pins India (API) was present at the show to sharpen the aftermarket reach of its ‘Sirocco’ brand. The company is promoting its newly-developed suspension kits for bi-axle and tri-axle trailers lately, by targeting trailer OEMs, fabricators, and axle suppliers, along with distributors and retailers in the replacement market.
“This market space (suspension kits for trailers) is of immense potential for API, as we are manufacture suspension springs for over 50 years across diverse range and sizes”, said Mr. Rajbir Singh, Managing Director, while acknowledging that his company is even prepared for air suspension and other advanced systems for trailers market that may evolve in next five years or so. He added that Automechanika’s global appeal makes it the right platform to network with local and overseas customers in this regard.
The Sirocco brand boasts a wide range of leaf and parabolic springs in the aftermarket, across a wide range of truck segments and OEMs in India. In particular, Parabolic springs is rapidly growing, said Mr. Ravi Kumar, Vice President, API, with the company holding over 90 per cent of market share in that space.
“Although we entered the market with OEMs and have had a long standing in that stream of business, we now realise the true potentials of aftermarket… and hence we step up the game”, he said. Aftermarket business for API, at present, accounts for about 60 per cent of total revenue, while another 10 to 20 per cent stands from exports, according to the company.
“We are focusing on exports in a big way, as there is a huge demand for suspension springs worldwide. Right now, our prime market regions are Europe and Middle East; there exists huge potential in the North American market as well, but certain policy instabilities like that of in USA create huge disadvantage for exporters”, observed Mr. Rajbir Singh.
Mr. Ravi Kumar noted that aftermarket customers have started to value quality and reliable products, which enhances the appeal of Sirocco brand among end users in India. “With designs of springs getting diversified with multiple truck variants and OEMs, we are improving our in-house design and simulation and R&D investments in a big way”, he said.