Strategies for Enhancing Competitiveness of Indian Auto Component Industries

Dr. Kamala TN*

Prof. Doreswamy AG*

“India in a Tri-Polar Auto World”

“India would be the third largest Economy (after US and China) by 2050”

- Goldman Sachs Report

Introduction
India's quest to become a global auto manufacturing hub has made the world’s top auto makers
increasingly turn to India for their vehicle components. Riding this success and capitalizing on the
spiraling demand from domestic auto companies, the Indian auto components industry is
strengthening the demand and is emerging as one of fastest growing manufacturing sectors, and a
globally competitive one.
The entry of foreign automobile manufacturers ranging from Mercedes Benz, Ford, and
General Motors to Daewoo following the government liberalizing the foreign investment limits
has created a beginning of auto ancillary industry to witness huge capacity expansions and
modernization initiatives in the post liberalization period.
India is also becoming a global hub for R&D: GM, Daimler Chrysler, Bosch, Suzuki,
Johnson Controls etc. have set up development centers in India
ACMA says that India is amongst the most competitive manufacturers of Auto
Components; especially metal Intensive components like forgings, stampings, and castings.
“We have come to understand frugal product engineering and marketing. The mindset behind the
SCORPIO (Mahindra and Mahindra’s successful utility vehicle)- an example of frugal
engineering- is what we want to learn”. We need to know how to assemble and source such
products and make money out of them. Indian manufacturers know it best. China is also a low-
cost manufacturer. But there is something unique about India’s frugality of engineering and
management. If I have to fight the battle on low cost, I am going to do it (with a base) in India.”
Carlos Ghosn of Nissan

Driving force of Indian manufacturing sector

The Indian Auto component Industry has an estimated 560 companies operating in this area (FY
2006), giving direct employment to more than 300,000 persons, exporting goods worth US $ 1.8
billion. Exports have improved from 16 % (FY2005) to 21.5 % (FY 2006) of total auto
component production. The Indian Auto component industry is largely dependent on OEM’s,
which contributes to 60 % of sales, ‘after market’ (Replacement market) 18.5 % and export 21.5
%.

Automotive contribution to GDP

India's GDP is set to double over the next decade
In percentage terms, the automotive industry's contribution should also double.
In dollar terms, the sector's contribution is set to quadruple to some $145bn
The consequence is a remarkable transformation of India's entire economic landscape

Christ College, Bangalore 560 029

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Auto Components as a percent value of a vehicle:

Engine Parts 31, Drive, Transmission & steering parts 12, Suspension & Braking parts 12
Equipments 10, Electrical parts 9 and others 26.

AUTO
AUTO COMPONENT
COMPONENT INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY PRODUCTION
PRODUCTION
(IN
(IN US
US $
$ MLN.)
MLN.)
10,000
10,000

9,000
9,000

8,000
8,000

7,000
7,000

00
6,000
6,000

,00
10,0
8,700
5,000
5,000

10
30
4,000
4,000

,73
,430

6,7
70
0
3,000
3,000

5,4
3,965
,894

4,47
,278
8

49
08
3,008

5
3,27

,24

3,9
3,8
2,000
2,000
3,2

3
1,000
1,000

--
1996-97
1996-97 1997-98
1997-98 1998-99
1998-99 1999-2000
1999-2000 2000-01
2000-01 2001-02
2001-02 2002-03
2002-03 2003-04
2003-04 2004-05
2004-05 2005-06*
2005-06*
** Estimated
Estimated

4/30/2007 2

Composition of Exports as a percent– FY 2006

To - USA 28; Europe 38; Asia 18; Africa 10; Mid East 10

AUTO COMPONENT INDUSTRY EXPORT

(IN US $ MLN.)

1800
1600
1,800

1400
1200
1000
1,400

800
1,020

600
578

760

400
625
330

456
350

200
0
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06*
* Estimated

4/30/2007 3

The Auto component Industry is graduating to world class. Opportunity and challenge, both are
by-products of globalization. Indian companies are facing the challenges by consistently trying to
reach the world class standards.
• Availing global certification

Details of various certifications are listed below

Number of Companies Certification/ Awards
456 I S O 9000
248 TS 16949
136 Q S 9000
129 I S O 14001
9 Deming Award
4 JIPMA Award

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• Auto component suppliers embracing modern shop floor practices:

5-S, Kaizen, T Q M, T P M, Six-Sigma and Lean manufacturing

Auto Policy:
Government of India, under the EXIM policy, has designated auto components as a “Thrust
Sector”, allowing automatic approval of foreign equity participation up to 100 percent for
manufacture of auto components.

Continued import tariff reduction:

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 2.5%

AUTO COMPONENT INDUSTRY INVESTMENT

(IN US $ MLN.)

4,500
4,000

4,400
3,500
3,000

3,750
2,500

2,645

3,100
2,000
2,300
2,300

1,500
2,000
1,813

1,850

1,000
500
-
1997-98 1998-99 1999-2000 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06*
* Estimated

4/30/2007 4

With more business coming from USA and European Union♣, exports are more remunerative to
these countries, for which China and India are looked at as prospective destinations.
Focus areas are R&D, Quality certifications, capacity expansion and Global marketing-
Initial cost may be high, but would prove remunerative in the long run.
With mounting pressure by OEM’s to reduce prices, most of the auto component
suppliers from North America are filing for Bankruptcy. Now is the phase of consolidation
globally. Industry experts are of the view, that little over 100, Tier – I, suppliers would survive in
the coming years with more than 50 percent outsourcing.

Global supplier presence in India:

¾ Delphi : Steering System and Wiring harness
¾ Bosch : Spark plugs, Fuel Injection equipments, Oil Filters
¾ Denso : Auto electric components, alternators, fuel pumps and Radiators
¾ Lear : Electronic and Auto electrical components.
¾ Johnson Controls: Seating Systems and Controls
¾ Visteon : Air conditioning, engine cooling systems.
¾ T RW : Engine valves and steering system, Braking system and auto electric components
¾ Siemens VDO: Automotive dashboard instruments and accessories.
¾ DANA : Clutch, Piston rings, axle housing.

♣
Sales in terms of value as percentage of total exports by Indian Auto component Industries - FY 2005.
USA 28 ; Europe 38 ; Africa 12 ; Asia 15 and others: 7)

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¾ ZF : Hydraulic power steering gears, steering columns and shafts.

¾ G K N : Drive shaft assemblies, CV Joints, Sintered bearing parts, filters and
metal powders.

Indian Companies investing overseas:

¾ Tata Motors : Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Plant
¾ M&M : Jianging Motors Co- China , SAR Auto Products Ltd China
¾ Bharat Forge Ltd: Carl Dan Peddnghaus Germany
Fedara Forge U S A
Imatra Kilsta AB Sweeden
Scottish Stampings Ltd Scottland
¾ Amtec Auto : G K W UK, New Smith Jones Inc of USA , Zelter- Germany
¾ UCAL Fuel System: Amtec precision Products Inc USA
¾ SFL: Bliesthal Products GMBH for valve guide & valve seat inserts.
Precision forging unit of Dana Spicer (UK)
Camlington Forge –UK
Greenfield Plant in Zhejiang- China
¾ El Forge Ltd : Shakespeare Forging UK
¾ T V S Autolec Ltd: RBI Autoparts SND BHD, Malaysia.
¾ Sona Koyo: Fuji Autotec – France.

Some of the Design and Research Centers in India:

General Motors , Ford , Caterpillar, Honda, Suzuki, Johnson , Cummins ,Intel, Visteon,
Delphi ,

World class Design and developed Indian Products:

¾ Mahindra and Mahindra’s “Scorpio”
¾ TVS Motor’s “Scooty”
¾ Bajaj Auto’s “Pulsar”
¾ Tata Motors’s “Indica” and “Indigo”

World wide production of Cars: (FY 2004)

Rank Country No of Units % Growth YoY

1 Japan 8,720,385 3
2 Germany 5,192,101 1
3 USA 4,229,625 (6)
4 France 3,227,416 0
5 Korea 3,122,600 13
6 China 2,316,262 15
7 Brazil 1,756,166 17
8 UK 1,646,881 (1)
9 Canada 1,335,464 0
10 India 1,178,354 30

World wide Production of Heavy Vehicles:

Rank Country No of Units Growth YoY
1 Japan 769,953 0
2 China 541,813 11
3 USA 357,834 39
4 India 202,435 32
5 Germany 193,774 19
6 Brazil 106,962 35
7 Indonesia 71,992 23
8 Mexico 70,000 28
9 Netherlands 64,329 15
10 Russia 58,442 15
11 France 57,715 15

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Parameters that make Indian auto component supplier globally competitive:

Low cost Factor:
Average wages in India are almost less than 50 % of wages in developed countries. Even after
factoring for lower productivity, the net cost advantage is about 30 %.
Designing, Engineering and IT skills”

The advantages of Indian auto component companies are very similar to those of Indian software
Industry.
- Large pool of English speaking engineers,
- Offer product development and design services at a competitive rates
- Also can leverage on its counterparts in IT industry for technology.
- Indian auto component industries stand out for their quality as compared to other
low cost locations. As many as fifteen Indian companies have received the
prestigious Deming award, of which five are auto component companies. Many are
with ISO 9000, ISO 14001, and TS certifications (which are a must for supplying
to Ford, Chrysler and General Motors of USA).
- India being the low cost producer of aluminum and some grades of steel, auto
components will definitely be cheaper by 2-30%.

Availability of qualified human resources:

(scale1=low, 10=high)

.
Germany India US Brazil Mexico China

Availability of
7.5 7.4 7.2 6.4 6.3 4.8
skilled labor
Availability of
qualified 8.5 7.5 7.4 6.6 6.6 4.2
engineers
Source: ACMA

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Inter-relations among Company, Competition and Consumer

Competition Company
(Competitor/Government) (Manufacturing Unit)

Customer
(Vehicle Mfg,
Sub assemblers
Replacement Market)
4/30/2007 5

Total size of auto component industry being $1000 billion, Indian component exports are
miniscule at $1.8 billion (FY2006). Although the growth in exports is much higher than domestic
market Indian Auto component Industry has to face significant operational challenges and Risks –

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Scale, logistics, quality, adherence to strict delivery schedules and penalties for poor quality,
assembly line stoppage, product recalls.

Analysis
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in the country jumped nearly three fold to 15 billion
dollars in 2006-07,(as against 5.5 billion dollars during 2005-06) as the world’s second-fastest
growing economy lured investors from across the world .FDI for 2007-08 pegged at 25 billion
dollars.
India's labor intensive car industry has become a tremendous job creator and as such a crucial
driver of economic growth.

Conclusion
Different Global Business models for Auto components can be developed based on further
research on:
¾ Innovative methods of production to add value for Engine parts, Drive, Transmission &
Steering parts, Suspension & braking parts which almost constitute 55 % of total value of a
vehicle.
¾ Import technology, Collaborate with component suppliers to various high end component
consumer - improve learning curve.
¾ Look for possible supply of an assembly rather than components, where India has an edge
over other countries.
¾ Auto industry growth of different countries.
¾ Governments long term policies- both Local and Exporting countries

Reference
Business Standard - April 5th, 2007
Business Line April 29th, 2007
Indian Automobile Industry-Recent trends, RNCO, June 2005
Indian Automotive Industry (2005-2010), RNCO, June 2006
Indian auto Component Industry .Scope Marketing Information Solutions (P)Ltd Jan2001
News results for Indian Auto component Industry. Economic Times, 28th April 2007

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