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IntroductionThe Indian automotive component industry is dominated

by around 500 players which account for more than 85% of the production. The turnover of this industry has beengrowing at a mammoth 28.05% per annum from 2002-03onwards as illustrated in Fig.1 which clarifies its emergenceas one of India's fastest growing manufacturing sectors.

During 1990s, the auto components market in India usedto be dominated by supplies to the aftermarket with only 35%exports sourced by global Tier 1 OEMs (Original EquipmentManufacturers). The industry made a sustained shift to theglobal Tier 1 market and today, the component manufacturerssupply 75% of their exports to global Tier 1 OEMs and the

remaining to the aftermarket. This is largely due to thegrowing capability of the Indian component suppliers inunderstanding technical drawings, conversance with globalautomotive standards, economically attractive costs(manufacturing costs are 25%-30% lower than its westerncounterparts), flexibility in small batch production andgrowing information technology application for design,development and simulation.

Besides the burgeoning demand of auto componentsfrom global majors, the domestic automobile industry has

been showing a sparkling growth caused by increasingcustomer base and affordable loans. Based on this, theturnover of the Indian auto component industry is expectedto touch US$ 18.7 billion by 2009 and estimated to reachUS$ 40 billion by 2014.

Overview of Indian Automobile Industry The liberalized policies of the Indian Government paved

towards steady evolution of India as a stable and marketdriven economy with the real Gross Domestic Product

growth in excess of 8%, foreign exchange reserves crossingthe $150 billion mark, growing value of Indian Rupeecompared to US dollar and reducing inflation rate. 100%Foreign Direct Investment, absence of local contentr e g u l a t i o n ,manufactur ing andimports f ree f romlicensing & approvalsin the automobile sector coupled with customst a r i f f f o r a u t ocomponents reducing to

12.5% resul ted inincreased number of multinationals establishing their bases inIndia and with export markets looking up, the Indianautomobile industry is poised for a phenomenal growth. Theautomobile production in the sub-continent has been growingsteadily @ 18.53% per annum from 2002-03 onwards withtotal vehicle production standing at a mammoth 1,00,31,296nos. in 2005-06 as is shown in Fig.2.

B.V.R. RajaQuality Assurance Manager,Alloy Steels Plant, SAIL

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Among the automobiles, 2 wheelers account for 75.77%,cars about 11.09%, 3 wheelers to the tune of 4.33%, tractorsabout 2.95%, buses & trucks constitute 2.19%, Multi UtilityVehicles (MUVs) to the tune of 1.96% and Light CommercialVehicles (LCVs) about 1.71% of the total number of automobiles produced in the country. Presently, India is the

second largest market after China for two & three wheelers.In tractors production, India is one of the two largestmanufacturers in the world along with China. The sub-continent stands as the 4th largest producer of trucks in theworld. Coming to the passenger car segment, the country is

positioned 11th in car production in the world.

The Indian passenger car market is far from beingsaturated leaving ample opportunity for volume growth sincethe per capita car penetration per 1000 is only 7 compared to500 in Germany. The production of cars in the country has

been growing at a mammoth 27.58% per annum from 2002-03 onwards as is shown in Fig.3. In general, cars are broadly

classified as Mini, Compact, Mid-Size, Executive &Premium varieties. There has been a steady rise in compactcar production from 333,000 in 2002-03 to 715,000 in 2005-06, mid-size cars from 122,000 to 204,000 nos., executivecars from 2000 to 23,000 nos. and premium variety cars from4000 in 2002-03 to 5000 nos. in 2005-06. The mini car segment production reduced from 150,000 in 2002-03 to98,000 nos. in 2005-06. These statistics vividly reveal theincreasing capacity of the Indian customer, thus driving the

passenger car demand rapidly up the price ladder. Analystsspeculate car production in the sub-continent to touch1575,000 in 2009 and 2654,000 by 2014. Cars and MUVsexports rose from 72,000 in 2002-03 to reach 176,000 nos. in

2005-06 with growth @ 48.155 per annum from 2002-03onwards.

Out of the two wheelers produced in India, motorcyclesaccount for 81.59%, scooters about 13.42% and mopeds tothe tune of 4.99% of the total production. The productionstatistics is shown in Fig.4 which shows the growth of 2wheelers @ 16.58% per annum from 2002-03 onwards. Outof this, motorcycles have exhibited production growth @19.99% per annum, scooters @ 6.74% per annum & mopeds@ 2.65% per annum from 2002-03 onwards.

Two wheeler production units in India constitute of Japanese OEMS (Original Equipment Manufacturers) whichinclude Hero Honda Motors, Honda Motorcycle & scooter India (P) Ltd., YamahaMotor India (P) Ltd. &Suzuki Motorcycle India(P) Ltd. and Indian OEMsconsisting of Bajaj AutoL t d . , T V S M o t o r Company Ltd., LML Ltd.,Kinetic Engineering Ltd.,Majes t i c Auto L td . ,Kinetic Motor CompanyLtd. and Royal Enfield of Eicher Ltd. Out of theaforementioned, Hero Honda accounts for 39.55%, BajajAuto about 26.87%, TVS Motors 17.98%, Honda Motors7.94%, Yamaha Motors 3.27%, LML 1.41% and theremaining 2.98% of the total 2 wheelers production in thecountry. The exports of two wheelers made a significantgrowth from a level of 180,000 in 2002-03 to reach 513,000nos. in 2005-06. The latest estimates put up production of 2wheelers to 13.6 million by 2009.

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The production of Multi Utility Vehicles (MCVs) has been showing sparkling growth @ 23.84% per annum, LightCommercial Vehicles (LCVs) @ 35.49% and Medium &Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M & HCVs) @ 27.33% per

annum from 2002-03 onwards in India as shown in Fig.5.

Industry analysts put up MUVs production to reach207,000 in 2009 and 277,000 in 2014. Commercial vehicleexports made a steady growth from a level of 11,000 in 2002-03 to 41,000 in 2005-06.

The manufacturing units for four wheelers in Indiaconstitute of Japanese OEMs covering Maruti Udyog Ltd.,Toyota Kirloskar Motor (P) Ltd., Honda Siel cars India Ltd. &Swaraj Mazda Ltd., Indian OEMs consisting of Tata MotorsLtd., Mahindra &Mahindra Ltd., Ashok Leyland Ltd., ForceMotors Ltd., Eicher M o t o r s L t d . &Hindustan MotorsLtd., Korean OEMHyundai Motor IndiaLtd., American OEMswhich include GeneralMotors India (P) Ltd. & Ford India (P) Ltd. and EuropeanOEMs consisting of Skoda Auto India (P) Ltd., Daimler Chrysler India (P) Ltd., Volvo India (P) Ltd., Tatra TrucksIndia Ltd. & Fiat India (P) Ltd. Presently, Maruti Udyogaccounted for 33.24%, Tata Motors 26.14%, Hyundia Motors15.13%, Mahindra & Mahindra 7.47%, Ashok Leyland3.78%, Toyota Kirloskar 2.61%, Honda Siel Cars 2.40%,Force Motors 2.08%, General Motors 1.78%, Ford India1.57%, Eicher Motors 1.41% and othe4rs 2.39% of the total

production of four wheelers in India.

The tractors production in the country has been making asteady growth @ 25.80% and three wheelers @ 19% per annum from 2002-03 onwards as illustrated in Fig.6.

The Indian automobile industry is flooded with hugeinvestments involving green field and brown field projects.Hyundai plans to set up a LCV plant at Pune, India. Toyotawould be investing US$ 4.2 billion for starting production of small cars & Suzuki plans to invest US$ 1.6 billion in India.Isuzu Motor & Nissan Motor belonging to Hitachi Ltd. of Japan would begin manufacturing cars in India. Tata Motorsis setting up its novel small car production facility near Kolkata. Hyundai plans to make India an export base for small cars. Telecon is investing about US$ 54 million for

production of earth moving vehicles/components atKharagpur in India. Also, Honda Motorcycles & scootershave ambitious plan for making this sub-continent a hub for two wheelers exports. All these forward towards further increase in demand for auto components.

Auto Components Production RangeIn India

India is bestowed with excellent infrastructure for production of auto components. There are various nationaland multinational companies in the country that have put upstate of art auto component manufacturing facilities. The

production range of auto components in India is shown inFig.7. For many of the auto components, steel remains the

dominant material due to its versatility providing a widerange of properties through the choice of appropriatecombination of composition and processing. Along with theabove, long term availability of raw materials, good recycling

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ability, a relatively favorable price and the large experience based knowledge favor steel as a choice for use in autocomponent manufacturing.

The steel requirements in general for engine parts such asfan, pulley, piston pin & oil fan are met by low carbon steels,medium carbon steels/alloy steels based on requisitemechanical properties are applied for crankshafts, connecting

rods, rocker arm shaftse t c . W h i l e l o wcarbon/low carbon alloycase hardening steels areu s e d f o r modera te ly / severe lystressed components.Transmission parts suchas input shaft, outputshaft, front axle, rear axle,kick down & reverse

bands, pinion shafts,clutch discs & plates, automatic transmission componentsetc. are made with medium carbon/alloy steels while the gearsare made of low carbon/low carbon alloy case hardeningsteels. Suspension and steering parts such as knuckle ballstuds, arm sector shafts, arm parts, pitman & idler arms,struts, tie rod ends, ball joint studs, center link etc. are either made of medium carbon steel or alloy steel depending uponthe conferred properties, spring steels for suspension springswhile low carbon case hardening steels are applied for components that require wear resistance. Various lowcarbon/low carbon alloy steels are used for rivets, bolts, nuts& other fastener items. Steel required for chassis componentsare met with cold forming & weldable low carbon/micro-alloyed steel sheets/plates while deep drawing & extra deepdrawing varieties of steel sheets are employed for body.

Steels are shaped, formed, heat treated and/or machinedinto automotive components fulfilling the specific designcriteria requiring critical set of properties like strength &toughness, fatigue & fracture resistance, wear resistance,corrosion resistance etc. Technology of machining,fabricating or forming of engineering components hasundergone rapid changes with the advent of Computer AidedManufacturing systems and robotics. Consequently, the autocomponent manufacturers require the highest degree of consistency in the quality of the steels both metallurgical anddimensional. Also, the changes in customer expectations for lighter, more powerful & fuel efficient vehicles with greater degrees of reliability & safety will continuously drive the

steel industry towards development and manufacturing of steel with closer band of metallurgical properties, physical

properties, leaner alloy compositions, higher strength toweight ratio etc. at the most competitive prices.

Today, automobile sector accounts for 7% of the total steelconsumed in India. The sparkling growth of the automotivecomponent industry and the automobile industry in Indiatranslates into a tremendous potential and opportunity for domestic steel producers to cater to the needs of theseindustries where steel is the most vital input.

India Emerging as Hub for AutoComponents

Indian auto component industry is fast emerging as anattractive OEM & Tier 1 supplier. The auto componentexports from India rose from a mere US$ 0.760 billion in2002-03 to US$ 1.8 billion in 2005-06 showing growth @45.61% per annum from 2002-03 onwards. In 2005-06, about36% of the component exports headed for Europe, 26% for America, 16% for Asia, 10% to Africa, 10% to Middle East,1.5% to Oceania and others account for 0.5% of the totalexports.

Based on the sparkling growth in demand for autocomponents, global auto majors and domestic giants have

been investing heavily in India because of India's competitiveadvantage. Accordingly, the total investment in Indian autocomponent industry has been showing a tremendous growth@ 22.12% per annum from 2002-03 onwards as shown inFig.8.

The investment is expected to rise further with hugestrides. Among various investments pumping in India, auto

parts maker Robert Bosch of Germany will investment US$201.4 million in its Indian subsidiaries over two years with

bulk of investment in Motor Industries Co. Ltd.(MICO).Hitachi Ltd. of Japan is planning to start auto component

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manufacturing inI n d i a w i t h i t sO E M s - I s u z uMotor & Nissan

Motor to beginmanufacturing carsin Ind ia . GKNDriveline, a wing of UK based autoc o m p o n e n t

manufacturer GKN plans to open a new manufacturingfacility in India. Dubai based auto ancillary PartsInternational Company plans to invest about US$ 3.6 millionin India over three years which includes setting up amanufacturing facility to service exports to CIS & SAARCcountries. Fiat India has been taking various measures to

become a global sourcing hub for components by exportingcomponents worth US$ 8.3 million last year to its operationsin South Africa and plans to source components worth US$200 million. Toyota already invested US$ 197 million tosupply transmission system, gear boxes, axles, propeller shafts and aluminium pressure die casting products to globaloperations. Delphi is planning to source components such as

piston rods, steering system, drive shafts, catalytic converter,stampings in power train, sheet metal/stampings for chassisand electrical parts like wiring harnesses & armature motorsworth US$ 250 million by 2007. General Motors which

presently is sourcing components worth US$ 6 million fromIndian suppliers intends to ship parts worth US$ 1 billion for its global production units by 2010 and the componentsinclude crankshaft forgings, rdiator caps, gear boxes, leaf springs, wiring harnesses & cables. Ford Motors plan tosource components like steering columns, alloy wheels,crankshafts, exhaust parts, complete engines for IKONmodel, radiators, springs, castings, forgings, leaf springs,

body panel, horns, dash board assembly, starters, alternators& door trims from the present level of US$ 150 million toaround US$ 600 million by 2009 from India. Visteon whichhad already invested US$ 56 million is sourcing components

for exterior, instrument, cluster assembly & bumpers, ACsystem, starters, motors, alternators and panel instrumentassembly from India. Along with this, over 20 OEMs have setup International Purchasing Offices (IPOs) in India for components and the figure is expected to double by 2010.

Considering the above, Indian auto componentmanufacturers are substantially increasing investments in

production capacities, establishing partnerships in India &abroad and have been investing in or acquiring companiesoverseas. In continuation with this, global multi nationals areshifting automotive design centers into India with Indiaevolving as an excellent automotive R & D base for

prototyping, testing, validating and production of autocomponents caused by excellent IT skills & exemplaryautomotive domain knowledge.

ConclusionsWith increased role of outsourcing in an integrated global

economy and India being considered as a low cost automotivecomponent producer possess a greater edge in the globalmarket aspiring to capture 10% share of the global marketwhich translates into an export target of US$20 billion by2015. Also, by the current trends in the domestic automotiveindustry, the indigenous demand for auto components isestimated to reach US$20 billion in the next 10 years. This isexpected to increase the demand for alloy steels providing agreat opportunity for alloy steel producers in the country tocapitulate on it.

References

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