N Balasubramanian and Sarada Vishnubhatla talk to Frank Werner, Head, Business Unit Automotive Industry, Klüber Lubrication and Dinkar Pande, Associate General Manager (Global Business Team), Klüber Lubrication India and explore their future plans to propel new mobility solutions using hydro lubricants, besides touching upon hot topics like new customers post-BS-VI transition and the competitive aftermarket sector in India.
Globally, Klüber Lubrication has been making waves with its innovative and groundbreaking technological solutions and in India, the company has been growing closer to the customers fulfilling their unique needs.
The core strength of Klüber Lubrication lies in its technology. And big plans are afoot for India which include working on the still evolving hydro lubricants technology, taking a deeper look at its aftermarket business, associating closely with OEMs and catering to their needs for specialty lubricants besides positioning themselves as preferred partners. Despite COVID putting a dampener on businesses in 2020, Klüber Lubrication has done well globally and in India too.
Water – Quenching a Different Thirst
Its ubiquitous nature has now caught the attention of the automotive lubricant makers too. Water is now being utilized as a replacement for base oils in lubricants used in new mobility options. This pioneering technology is now gaining ground even as the brand continues to work through the developmental challenges.
Frank Werner, Head, Business Unit Automotive Industry, Klüber Lubrication, shares: “As we work more on the technical development of electric drive trains for multiple benefits like higher load capacities without losing the efficiency of the transmission, and better heat management in the drive train including the transmission, water is clearly the answer. It has a high heat dissipation capacity compared to the synthetic or mineral oils, easily available, non-toxic, non-flammable and is sustainable.”
As of now, it needs to be further analyzed, advantages and pain points identified by using this technology on vehicles and test rigs to solve the challenges so that it can be implemented in a series application. Electric vehicles are being built to be cost-effective, and offer efficiency, range, and sustainability, and in that context, hydro lubricants have the potential to deliver.
Work in Progress
It was in 2018 that Klüber Lubrication had launched its first hydro lubricant for industrial gearbox application for which it has been conferred with the German Innovation Award too.
Tests are being conducted by different OEMs for use in industrial gearbox applications and in e-mobility transmissions.
Dinkar Pande, Associate General Manager (Global Business Team), Klüber Lubrication India, adds: “Hydro lubricants are under test conditions in India as is the case across the world, by various EV manufacturers and design companies. The main advantage is that the customers realize high energy efficiency, while the challenge is to design the components to work in tandem with the benefits of hydro lubricants. Constant efforts are on to continually improve the basic component design also, to get full advantage of hydro lubricants in use.”
BS-VI Transition – Business Opportunity
With the BS-VI transition occurring earlier this year in the Indian market, Klüber Lubricants has ably supported its customers.
Werner shares: “Emission reduction, in many cases, is achieved by a higher working temperature in the ICE and it improves the quality of the combustion. The engine components working at higher temperatures influence the material used, such as elastomers and the lubricants, which work for a lifetime. Utilizing our experience in resolving such challenges before globally, we are in a position to help Indian customers facing these issues too. We are able to quickly deliver lubricants to meet these challenges during the BS-VI transition.”
Preferred Partners
Klüber Lubrication already has under its belt success stories in the specialty lubes. It has also documented successful associations with Indian, European, Japanese and Korean besides popular US-based EV makers.
Werner explains the complexities involved: “In the future, we expect every function in the autonomous vehicle to be actuated electromechanically by an e-motors and gear units. And these gear units need specialty lubricants for them to work a lifetime under harsh conditions. The lubricants, hence, will need to be compatible and able to work efficiently with newer materials which are going to be in use.”
Explaining the Indian scenario in this context, Pande shares: “Though not on par with the projects that Klüber Lubrication globally is working on, we are helping EV makers in India too. Besides offering numerous greasing solutions, we are already supplying transmission oil to one of the biggest EV manufacturers here and also helping others to develop their models. Innovative trials are under progress in India.”
And it will take time to become evident if the global technology and its various applications can be replicated in full in India, in the same way.
Market and Segment Share
Klüber Lubrication is currently focusing on bearing lubrications for the electrical engines.
Werner explains the complex market dynamics: “There are electrical drive trains where the electrical motor is not lubricated by the transmission fluid. The electrical motor bearings need grease for a lifetime performance. This is a challenging application because the requirements for electrical motors, the drive trains have just started to develop and we see an upward trend towards higher speeds. These are highly interesting fields for Klüber Lubrication because we have decades long experience of working with such bearings.”
Dinkar adds the Indian context: “Out of our total sales, a large share comes from what we supply to the OEMs, and the tier-1 and tier-2 suppliers.”
The global and Indian contexts do not differ much when it comes to conducting direct business with OEMs and tier-1 suppliers.
Aftermarket Share
Despite the pandemic situation, Klüber Lubrication India has been able to retain its strong foothold in the aftermarket, mainly referring to the business in the automotive service stations.
Pande gives the details: “The scope for aftermarket is huge in India with 2-wheelers, passenger, and commercial vehicles. This is a highly competitive space while being cost-sensitive too. Our lubricants are mostly found in the service kits provided by the OEMs, for example in the ball joints or brakes kits.”
Werner offers global comparison in this segment: “Globally, the aftermarket business with OEMs has multiple functions and challenges. It means that most OEMs have central spare parts distribution centers, and they make a business model out of original spare parts. This is a highly profitable business sector for them. Usually, the spare part demand of a lubricant arises from the series application, where it may be needed in small quantities, according to the specification for the service shop to repair. It means that as a supplier of lubricants in the series business, we need to be able to give the OEMs a private label spare parts solution also. It means that we must deliver both the big bucket on the manufacturing line, and in small quantity, or even at times, a private label product for the aftermarket. And, since the aftermarket product will be used wherever the OEM has vehicles in the market, it means almost every possible country in the world. And the OEM requires products that can be sold by them in any country, meeting the most stringent material compliance regulations applicable there.”
Future Roadmap
Globally, 2020 has been a challenging year with the market starting to revive only in the 4th quarter. Going from near zero demand at the beginning of the pandemic to exceeding numbers compared to the last 3 years in itself has posed a big challenge what with the supply chain having been severely impacted.
Werner gives the global context: “We see the prognosis for the global output in 2021 to be similar or more than what it was in 2017. During the crisis we have entered new projects with our customers and also proved to them that even in the deepest crisis such as the COVID, we are a reliable supplier.”
Dinkar adds: “We have major plans for the expansion of our auto aftermarket business by launching new products and private level projects. On the OEM front, things are looking up. We are going strong in our traditional domains of passenger vehicles, 2-wheeler segment, chassis and powertrain. And our plan is to touch the sales numbers achieved during 2018, which was a landmark year in the Indian automotive industry history.”
Klüber Lubrication is among the handful of specialty lube manufacturers globally and with new avenues such as hydro lubricants for new mobility concepts opening up, the brand is positioned strong to face the upcoming challenges!
—
“As we work more on the technical development of electric drive trains for multiple benefits like higher load capacities without losing the efficiency of the transmission, and better heat management in the drive train including the transmission, water is clearly the answer…
– Frank Werner, Head, Business Unit Automotive Industry, Klüber Lubrication
—
“Hydro lubricants are under test conditions in India as is the case across the world, by various EV manufacturers and design companies. The main advantage is that the customers realize high energy efficiency, while the challenge is to design the components to work in tandem with the benefits of hydro lubricants…
– Dinkar Pande, Associate General Manager (Global Business Team), Klüber Lubrication India