Gearing up for this target, the company plans to hire approximately 1,600 local engineers in two years, which is almost 6 times more than what it had in the last two years. In 2022, Marelli had 300 employees in its Indian center which now reaches 800 with the opening of its Bengaluru center.
“Three things are going on in the industry (India) right now; electrification, shift towards software defined vehicles, and the last, availability of inventory,” said CEO and President. Explaining further he said, India has an opportunity-rich environment, more local engineering, and more manufacturing for India and the world.
Revving up the game through a strong local supply chain
Marelli believes that a strong local supply chain is required in the country, for which the company bets on the R&D engineering and logistics(suppliers).
The company, which has doubled its engineering capacity, is looking forward to working in different segments such as lighting, propulsion, and electronics in terms of mechanical, software, hardware validation, and EMI EMC (Electromagnetic Interference and Electromagnetic Compatibility) in India.
“The competence areas are not just testing and validation of others, and not just generic software engineers like others can do. We're focused on embedded software,” he added.
Marelli is focusing on reducing the platform cost by 20% with the addition of more features in it. “What I believe is India can lower the cost of the platform and then this platform will go global and not the other way,” Slump added.
Globalisation of Indian products
The auto-technology major is trying to reverse its game with its three product architectures; Lean, Pro, and Elite. “What others do is there is a global platform launched and then they try to sell it into the Indian market. We are changing the game so we can get some follow-up material help,” added the President.
The company is investing more in lean and pushing the boundaries due to the high cost of electrification and SDVs (software-defined vehicles). “So what I want out of India is the lean innovation coming here, from here for the world, because this is an affordability segment,” states Slump.
The company is also working on in-car displays for which it is planning to localise the optical bonding of displays with in-house companies. The company is first planning to bring its display expertise to India.
“The complete product profiling will be done here, doing the proof of concepts and co-creation with Indian customers. So we go and partner with them, work with them to fit into the dimensions of the car,” added Slump.
Biz strategy
“We're going to probably more than double that capacity. We already have four more plants planned,” stated the CEO and President. Along with that, the company is targeting USD 1 billion in 2026 in India. “We want to be at least two to three times the local market growth,” Slump added.
Regarding the locations of new plants, Sump stated the area is yet to be finalised however, he hinted it will be an automotive hub. The company’s target is to be near its OEMs or customers.
The products to be manufactured in the new plants would be lighting, propulsion, suspension, and a few more, which are yet to be decided such as displays, and optical bonding.
Though talking about the electrification trend in India, Slump stated, “It would go fast in China, maybe fast in Europe, but slower in Brazil, India, and the US.”
He believes globally hybrids will be a bigger market than pure EVs.
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