TrendingNow – The push towards electrification of systems and components is an emerging trend in Europe. Mr. Zuhair Arakkal, Sales & Application Engineering Manager, Europe – BorgWarner Emissions & Thermal Systems, agreed: “Migration towards electronic controls of mechanically driven Thermal management components has been the baseline for European heavy commercial vehicles since Euro-5”.
Talking about conventional engines using a belt to drive the cooling fan and fandrive and the trend towards beltless engines, he shared: “Migrating to electric fan for engine cooling is an emerging trend for small and light commercial vehicles.”
He added: “eFans for heavy duty commercial diesel engine cooling is not foreseen in the near future and electronically controlled viscous fandrives will continue to be the most efficient solution. However, hybrid/electric CV’s will push the boundaries of eFan performance in the coming years”.
IndiaCentric – Mr. Arakkal shared: “Our solutions and services cater to regional customer requirements and legislation. As product and technology leader we are able to offer BS-VI compliant products to our customers in India based on our experience with North American and European CV applications”.
BorgWarner’s Global footprint and customer-base translates to a competitive advantage that customers in India can leverage. The challenge is to meet increasing performance expectations while respecting the price sensitivity of the market.
ChallengesAhead – Localization is an important part of BorgWarner’s India strategy. According to Mr. Arakkal: “We have been incrementally upping our production capacity, engineering support and localization efforts. A significant part of our bill of material is locally sourced”. Another challenge besides cost sensitivity of the Indian market is getting the local supply chain aligned to cost, quality and capacity expectations.
BorgWarner is all set to continue supporting Indian customers achieve their performance, quality and cost targets in thermal management in the face of inherent market challenges and volatility.