With governments around the world pursuing more stringent norms on emissions and fuel economy, companies are gearing up with new energy-efficient powertrain systems, says Rakesh Rao. With market for auto booming in Asia, global auto component companies are eyeing for bigger share of the market. Meanwhile, in India, the new emission norm (BS VI to be rolled out from April 1, 2020) is forcing companies to modify their powertrain systems. The demand for new products is also getting a boost with auto makers making their next generation powertrains.

With the deadlines inching closer, demand for certain technologies are gaining prominence, which is forcing the auto industry to be ready and be upto scale. Be it BS VI norms, electrification or technology disruptions in terms of IoT, much like a universe, the industry is expanding from all sides. The Indian automotive industry has been through some major upheavals, but none like the recent couple of years. From financial to technological disruptions, the industry, which comprises of a healthy blend of OEMs and tiered suppliers, has been either scrambling or sailing smoothly through the tides of change. Certain trends prove to be beneficial to some manufacturers while some others will be washed away with the tides of change.

The ever-changing auto industry moves quicker than ever. Can an industry like bearings keep up? The wheel might be the oldest human invention, but bearings come a close second. As the world of motion takes a faster track, a time-tested invention would have to keep up with it. Whether it is improvement in lubrication or in the bearings material itself, manufacturers are looking into how bearings can contribute to the industry trends as well developing intelligent bearing solutions for various automotive applications.

The global automotive composites market, valued at $ 6.81 billion in 2016, is projected to reach $ 13.14 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 12.26% between 2017 and 2022, according to MarketsandMarkets (MnM) report.

With the new engineering center in Pune, International Automotive Components (IAC), a leading global supplier of automotive components and systems (including interior and exterior trim), aims to deliver innovative vehicle interiors to Indian customers and expand its footprint in the country’s automotive industry. Automotive interior components’ supplier, International Automotive Components (IAC) recently opened a new regional and global engineering centre (GEC) in Pune to support vehicle interior needs of domestic and global customer programs. With this new centre, IAC has increased its presence in India to six locations.

…says Sriram Viji, Deputy Managing Directror, Brakes India Pvt Ltd, a TVS group company in the automotive component space. With its partner, the German-American auto parts maker ZF TRW, the company is focusing on bringing in latest braking technology and locatisation in India.

Not just for the sake of regulations but for the need to make vehicles more fuel-efficient and safer, automakers are racing against time. Lightweighting is a concept whose time has come. This was more than evident at the 17th Auto Shanghai trade show that took place in April this year with most of the leading vehicle and automotive component manufacturers putting on display products.

Furthering initiatives for an enhanced customer purchase experience around its popular range of ACE Small Commercial Vehicles (SCV), Tata Motors recently hosted its ‘Small Commercial Vehicle Application Expo’ – ‘Har Business ka Ace’ in Mumbai, Jaipur, Udaipur, Bhubaneshwar, and Bikaner among the 44 cities where the Expo will take place.

The Bajaj V15 launched in February 2016. The bike is positioned as a premium commuter in the Indian two-wheeler market while the biggest selling point is that some part of its metal is sourced from the legendary INS Vikrant warship, India’s first aircraft carrier that played a significant role in India-Pakistan wars.