Minda Revs Up For Electric Future

EVERY TWO YEARS, Uno Minda reviews vehicle sales forecasts for next five years as part of long-term planning. It determines the kind of vehicles, engines and fuel technologies — electric, internal combustion, hybrid, hydrogen — expected in the market. It then looks at features and technologies it can offer based on its competency. “We see our kit value across economic, premium and high-end segments, what we can do with our core and adjacent products and what we can add with our new products,” says Nirmal K. Minda, MD and chairman, Uno Minda. In the last few years, the Gurugram-headquartered company has incorporated the PACE (personalisation, autonomous, connected and electric) framework to guide its product development strategy. In keeping with the framework, the 66-year-old company has introduced products such as onboard chargers for EVs, sunroofs in keeping with personalisation trend, wireless chargers and advanced driver assistance systems. Minda says the company was the first to make fully-localised wireless chargers. The company has built a robust portfolio of EV-specific components for two-wheelers and three-wheelers that has helped it secure orders with peak annual value of over ₹3,000 crore from EV OEMs.

The company has 26 product lines, 74 facilities and operates in segments such as switching, lighting, acoustics, seating, casting and aftermarket. It is setting up a unit to make alloy wheels for four-wheelers at Kharkhoda, Haryana, with total investment of ₹542 crore over five years. The plant will have a capacity of 1.2 lakh wheels per month.

In FY24, Uno Minda’s casting business reported a revenue of ₹2,830 crore, 20% of consolidated revenue, up from 12% in FY21, helped by two-wheeler and four-wheeler alloy wheel business. Switching business reported a 14% jump in revenue to ₹3,663 crore (26% of total revenue). Lighting revenue jumped 31% to ₹3,368 crore (24% of consolidated revenue). “The two-wheeler [business] is growing. Our EV portfolio is growing. Alloy wheel penetration [is growing]. The kit value is increasing,” Minda, who joined the family business in 1977, tells Fortune India.

According to market research firm Technavio, the Indian auto component market is expected to grow by $115.79 billion to $169.94 billion between 2023 and 2028 at a CAGR of 25.7%. “It is about 5% of the global automotive industry but is one of the fastest-growing. Despite growth challenges this fiscal, India’s share, especially in incremental volume terms, will continue to rise,” says Kumar Rakesh, associate director, equity research, BNP Paribas.

Electric Future

The Indian EV market is expected to rise at a CAGR of 22.92% from $34.8 billion in 2024 to $120 billion by 2030, according to Mordor Intelligence. Minda says the company envisaged an EV foray five years ago. In 2022, it formed a joint venture with Germany’s Buehler Motor to develop and manufacture traction motors for battery-driven electrified two-wheelers and three-wheelers. In 2021, it formed another JV with FRIWO AG Germany to manufacture and supply EV components. Uno Minda has 50.1% stake in both ventures.

The company says its two-pronged EV strategy includes product electrification and development of new EV products. “We focused on upgrading existing products — replacing traditional bulb-based headlights and taillights with LED technology, transitioning from high-current switches to low-current ones with connectivity and increasing operating voltage of ECUs (electric control units),” it says. At the same time, the company has developed new EV-specific products, including onboard chargers, DC-DC converters and smart plugs.

This year, Uno Minda expanded its offerings in the four-wheeler EV space with two key partnerships — with Singapore-based EV charging infrastructure and microgrid solutions provider StarCharge to make wall-mounted AC chargers for homes, apartments and public spaces featuring bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity; and with Suzhou Inovance Automotive to manufacture charging control units, EV inverters, EV motors and next-generation three-in-one electric drive systems (e-axle). “Our strategic partnerships with Inovance and Star Charge are now driving growth in the electric four wheeler space, solidifying Uno Minda’s role as a key player in the EV ecosystem,” the company says. Minda says the company has identified 11 new products in four-wheeler EV space. “Of these, we will make some on our own and some with the technology of Inovance and StarCharge,” he says, adding that government’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has been a huge help. “Originally, OEMs were not looking at local partners. With the PLI scheme, everybody is under pressure for localising EV parts,” says Minda.

To keep pace with emerging technologies, Uno Minda says it is investing in research across its 37 R&D and engineering centres. The efforts are focussed on two goals — to find ways to provide latest technologies and features being used in high-end cars to mid-segment vehicles and localise products that are still being imported. “By localising production of components, the company not only reduces costs but also responds more efficiently to market demands,” says Minda.

Global & Local Expansion

The company, present in 12 countries, is keen to expand its global business, which currently accounts for about 14% revenue. Minda expects it to be about 22% of total business in three-five years. In September, it announced a new manufacturing facility in Indonesia to diversify offerings and cater to the growing demand for passenger car components, including long tail lamps; the ₹210 crore plant is expected to be operational in last quarter of FY26.“

Additionally, its JV, Toyoda Gosei Minda India, will set up a new plant in Harohalli, Karnataka, to make safety systems (airbags, steering wheels, etc.) and interior and exterior products (console boxes, etc.), at a total expenditure of about ₹283 crore, with operations expected to commence in FY27.