Autobayng News Team
Akash Passey, President, ZF India, speaking at the 65th ACMA Annual Convention.“>
Amid the push for localisation and advanced technologies in manufacturing, the auto industry veterans stressed the need for building stringent global supply chains even if that comes at a higher cost. They were speaking at the 65th Annual Convention of ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India) which comes at a time when the auto industry is reeling under the pressure of US tariffs. Geopolitical concerns continue to shape auto industries and its partnerships, said Vikram Kasbekar, Executive Director, Acting CEO and CTO at Hero MotoCorp. “The companies should start adapting to disruptions by building complementary alliances,” he said. Speaking on global supply chains becoming increasingly fragmented due to protectionism, pandemics, and wars, Piyush Arora, MD and CEO of Volkswagen Group – India Region, said there is a need for more agility in the system. “Supply chains must move beyond cost efficiency to become agile, diversified and capable of withstanding disruptions,” he emphasised, urging stronger partnerships between OEMs and suppliers with faster validation cycles.Localisation push
Make-in-India and Atmanirbhar Bharat ruled the roost in a discussion where industry leaders called for giving a push to localisation efforts in the field of semiconductors and electronics.
“Localisation is going to be one very big initiative we need to address,” said Ganesh Mani, CEO, Switch Mobility and President & COO, Ashok Leyland, pointing to rare earth magnets, semiconductors and electronics as areas where India must build end-to-end capability.`The semiconductor crunch remained a key focus and has received multiple investments recently aligning with the country’s goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Lim Kenneth, Senior Vice President – Automotive Segment Asia Pacific, Infineon Technologies, recalled how chip shortages between 2020 and 2023 led to a loss of 30 million vehicles globally, worth $500 billion. “Resilience is not an option. It is a proactive approach to managing and mitigating risk,” he said, adding that Infineon has committed $10 billion in capacity expansion over the next decade, with OEMs co-investing in semiconductor supply.Sriram Viji, MD of Brakes India, cautioned that resilience comes at a price. “Our industry is geared for efficiency, but resilience comes with cost, extra inventories, redundant capacity, and near-shoring. Who will bear that cost?” he asked. This indicated his appeal to the government to intervene and resolve.
On the technology front, Guruprasad Mudlapur, MD and President, Bosch Group – India, said the industry was at a historic inflection point. “The auto industry is at a true inflection point– never before have technology transitions been this fast or disruptive,” he observed. Bosch, he said, invests €6–8 billion annually in R&D globally, including semiconductors, and has adopted vertical integration to secure its supply chain.
Akash Passey, President, ZF India, closed the session by highlighting the need to balance competing priorities. “The old model of super-optimised supply chains may not work anymore. We must embed buffers and resilience while keeping competitiveness in focus,” he said.
Despite concerns about higher costs, the panel agreed that India has a unique opportunity to position itself as a resilient and competitive hub for global automotive supply chains, provided industry and government work closely together on technology, localisation, and long-term planning.
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