Auto Expo best place for SMEs to grab opportunity: Arvind Kapur

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Saurabh Gupta | 27 Dec, 2011
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the globe are participating in the Auto Expo 2012, said Arvind Kapur, President, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA), in an exclusive interview to SME Times.

Excerpts of the interview...

How many Indian SMEs are participating in Auto Expo-2012?
Arvind Kapur: Seventy percent of the ACMA members are Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and most of them are participating. If you look at the combination of companies (overseas as well as Indian) I wonât be able to tell you how many overseas SMEs are participating. But there are small than smaller companies, who are participating in this Expo.

The Indian component industry too has in the last few years penetrated the global markets either through partnerships or acquisitions. Global component manufacturers like Visteon, Delphi, Magna or Continental either have a dedicated business here or are in tie ups with Indian component manufacturers. Tyre majors like Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli, Dunlop, Continental, as well Indian heavyweights like Apollo, JK, MRF etc too have carved their space in the Indian automotive industry, the Indian companies even gaining international foothold. Increased attention on India is a result of the tremendous growth shown by India, especially when global markets are reeling under severe economic downturns.

And how about the overseas SMEs?
Arvind Kapur: Exhibitors from the auto component industry have a strong presence in Auto Expo 2012. Some of the major component manufacturers from Belarus, Canada, Peopleâs Republic of China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and UAE are participating in the 11th Auto Expo. Making it, a truly âIndiaâs global Automotive showâ.

Any kind of support or subsidy to SME sector?
Arvind Kapur: No subsidise at all to anybody.

What is so unique for SMEs in the 11th Auto Expo 2012?
Arvind Kapur: This is the second biggest exhibition in the world as far as the business is concerned. It is going to a very-very interesting expo for both the domestic market and exports. And one unique thing about the expo is the âAsli-Nakli Showâ, where we aware consumers about the importance of the genuine auto parts.

How is the Indian auto component industry performing now in terms of revenue?
Arvind Kapur: The auto component industry is growing. In the medium term and long term...yes very good. The auto component industry grows in any case because there is depth as for as cars are concern, motorcycles grow, the commercial vehicles grow so over all there has been a growth. The turnover is about USD 40 billion, which is about close to Rs. 182,000 crore last year. There was a slight dip but in medium and long term the car and two wheeler industries will grow.

And exports of the sector?
Arvind Kapur: Export of auto component sector is growing up. The auto component export is grown by 55 percent last year. And this is despite the recession in US and EU. And I am talking about OEMs not the after market.

How you see the rising prices of Dollar in compare to the Indian currency? Is this a factor of growth?
Arvind Kapur: We are in the very interesting situation at the moment. As far as the component industry is concerned about the increasing dollar prices, the negative side is that the commodity prices are linked to the dollar prices, they get more expensive. So itâs not that easy say through to sell components for exports. But we are getting more competitors; our quality is globally accepted by all the luxury car makers as well as the OEMs overseas so thatâs the advantage we have today. And dollar off course add to it but I wonât say that is the only reason for exports growth.