Vivek Vikram Singh, Managing Director and Group CEO of Sona Comstar, believes the Indian auto component industry stands at a crucial juncture. He discussed the company’s journey, the evolving relationships between auto companies and component makers, and future challenges.
Initially, he reflected on the passing of his close friend and Chairman of Sona Comstar, acknowledging the difficulty of such a loss but emphasizing the need to move forward. He quoted a line from a poem about fulfilling promises and the necessity of continuing despite pain.
Singh described Sona Comstar’s transformation over the past decade from a gear manufacturer to an advanced systems-making company. The company expanded from gears to assemblies, driveline systems, motors, and now sensor systems. He emphasized a focus on doing what is right for customers, employees, and shareholders.
A current industry trend sees component manufacturers aiming to be trusted system partners rather than just suppliers. Singh noted that automakers need to be more agile, launching new models rapidly, and should concentrate on design, innovation, sales, and service, while assigning other tasks to system partners.
Regarding the concept of Tier 0.5 suppliers, Singh stated that they are currently at Tier 0.8. Tier 0.5 implies that the supplier builds the entire car, with the carmaker only managing design and sales, which is currently a challenging goal.
Looking ahead, Singh views the industry’s $100 billion target as an ambitious goal. He stressed the need to consider not just where to sell, but also what to create. This requires research, innovation, engineering skills, tooling, and a complete ecosystem, which he identifies as a major current deficiency. While acknowledging the difficulties, Singh believes it’s crucial to dream and work towards this goal. He views the $100 billion figure as a significant aspiration that should be pursued.