Continental Automotive Components (India) Pvt. Ltd. operates through three automotive divisions: Interior, Powertrain and Chassis & Safety, represented by 14 strong business units, each with an extensive product portfolio. The company, a leader in vehicle electronics, plans to step up its focus on safety and emissions in the coming years.
Speaking about Continental’s focus areas and contributions to the Indian market, Mr. Avinash Gupta, Head, Business Unit, Commercial Vehicle & Aftermarket, Continental Automotive Components India, says: “Continental’s key focus in India is the vehicle electronics segment. With the introduction of more vehicle electronics on Indian commercial vehicles (CV) and off highway vehicles, we expect the market to grow and mature further. Over the medium term, the demand for new CVs will be driven by gradual acceptance of advance trucking platforms, BS-VI emission norms and the mandatory implementation of technologies such as Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS).”
With more than 80 years of experience in the commercial vehicle segment, Continental develops and produces products that make commercial and special vehicles safer, cleaner and more fuel-efficient. For example, Continental has vast experience in tachographs and customized telematics modules. Under its product brand VDO, beside the digital tachograph, Continental offers a broad modular portfolio of fleet management software, peripheral devices and services addressing all aspects of the DTCO digital tachograph. The innovative VDO fleet solutions from Continental make fleet management more efficient, enable the fleet operators to cut cost, optimize routes and make more use of working hours. It ensures a far more efficient, convenient and secured fleet management operations.
Cost efficiency is certainly one of the key megatrends in the Indian market. Continental makes mature, high-quality systems and components that are vital to keep vehicles’ running costs as low as possible. Since only safe commercial vehicles are cost-efficient, Continental’s wide range of products and solutions such as Emergency Brake Assistant System, Accelerator Force Feedback Pedal, ARS300 radar sensor, object recognition and signal processing software, Continental eHorizon, etc., contribute in a big way towards safe and intelligent driving.
Owing to the burgeoning demand for vehicle electronics, the Indian market has become a strategic emerging market for Continental’s Commercial Vehicle Business Unit. “We have established strategic relationships with our key customers so that when demand for better information management systems grows, we will be their preferred supplier. Furthermore, we have already prepared ourselves with local product development, design and manufacturing (both software & hardware), that are all led out of India for commercial vehicle projects”, adds Mr. Gupta.
Continental is localizing entire value chains starting from localizing marketing to R&D to design according to local customers’ requirements, in India. The company is localizing sourcing for optimized cost which mainly applies for raw materials and components and localizing manufacturing for quick response to the market. The German firm is committed to working closely with the automotive industry to localize its products and deploy its team to the customers’ location as necessary.
According to Mr. Gupta, Continental’s top three focus areas for the future would be safety, emissions and information management, while the company is also focusing on the areas of construction and agriculture. In the construction segment, electronic products that ensure greater safety, environmental compatibility and convenience are being used more and more for wheel loaders, excavators and bulldozers. In the farming industry, Continental develops electronic solutions which supply precise information on work processes through products such as electronic control units like the MUX4-P, tailor-made transmission control systems, customized body control units, sensors and instrumentation platforms such as flexible clusters.
By Rajeswari Prasad