Schaeffler strategically positioned to offer full range of mobility solutions

Fully geared up to support ICE, hybrid and electric vehicles

In order to reduce emission and to be committed to the environmental goals, the Government has prescribed norms such as Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFÉ), Faster Adoption & Manufacturing go Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme and Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) to bring India at par with the rest of the world. Establishing such emission standards and norms will bring transformative changes in the Indian automobile industry. While there is no doubt that electric vehicles and hybrids will continue to grow, there is ample room for improving the efficiency of ICEs.

Schaeffler, a leading global automotive and industrial component supplier, provides a range of solutions that not only improves the powertrain performance and efficiency but also increases the reliability and safety. The company believes that globally 30 per cent of cars produced in 2030 would be using all-electric drive systems and 70 per cent will still have some form of ICE, either as the sole power source or in combination with an electric motor as in a hybrid.

In an exclusive conversation with MOTORINDIA on the sidelines of SIAT 2019 in Pune, Mr. Dharmesh Arora, CEO, Schaeffler India, shares his observations about the company’s technological strengths, being ‘One Entity – Schaeffler India’ and growth prospects.

Excerpts:

On the merger of INA Bearings India and LuK India with Schaeffler India

One of the reasons for this merger is to make it easier for our customers to work with us, as in the past they had to work with three different brands. The combined entity will offer a full range of mobility solutions in engines, transmissions and chassis components as well as a wide range of ball and roller bearings, housings and services across mobility and industrial applications shaping ‘Mobility for Tomorrow’.

This changeover is taking place as part of the “Global Branding” project, one of the initiatives that make up the future program “Agenda 4 plus One” with which Schaeffler is implementing its strategy “Mobility for Tomorrow”. The corporate brand will further strengthen and complement the already strong and well recognized product brands of FAG, LuK and INA.

The four plants that we have with the three-product portfolio, namely, engine, transmission and chassis, and the future happenings of e-mobility will come from one single source. The combined entity is one of the leading Indian automotive and industrial suppliers with over Rs. 41 billion in revenues and around 3,000 employees.

On aftermarket growth

Whether passenger cars, light or heavy commercial vehicles or tractors – with our wide range of solutions in original-equipment quality, all components are tuned to work together perfectly. With the mobility needs of the consumers in India increasing, the need for reliable original equipments in aftermarket is expanding at a rapid pace.

We are strong in both automotive and industrial side and, with the merger, we will be able to provide a larger set of products under one entity. Our comprehensive portfolio for commercial vehicle drive trains contains everything needed for a professional repair. From repair solutions for clutch systems to transmission components, we offer products tuned to work optimally together.

We have grown 12-13 per cent y-o-y in the recent past and the whole merger was done keeping further growth in mind. India provides tremendous opportunities both in terms of industrial and automotive aftermarket.

We are strategically positioned to make good use of the opportunities, better than before. In the next five years we would love to double our revenues from where we were and building the right capabilities, manufacturing capacities, increasing investments into manufacturing as well as engineering capabilities, so that we can really build and support strong brands.

On SIAT 2019

Schaeffler considers SIAT as the premier technological event in the country, and as the key technology supplier to the industry, we have always been present here.

This year is special too, as the industry is going through a transformation and there is lot of focus and attention different powertrain solutions.

So, what we have bought is a complete range of solutions from Mild Hybrid P0 systems to P2 and P4 Hybrid systems, e-mobility as well as hybridized solutions for the future.

Also keeping in consideration that the traditional IC engines will continue to co-exist, we have a whole range of solutions to make the engines more efficient and also the transmission automated.

In short, we have solutions for both conventional as well as e-mobility.