Auto part makers must engage with India's chip industry early on, says Maruti's MD and CEO

Takeuchi urged the manufacturers association to embrace digitalization to ensure India improves productivity and quality, as well as responds 'more swiftly to market demands'.

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26 Aug, 2025 12:21

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Maruti Suzuki, India's largest car company by market share, has advised electronics part makers to start to 'actively engage' with India's nascent semiconductor manufacturing sector, and specify requirements early on to ensure chips required by the industry are developed and produced locally.

Speaking at an annual session of ACMA on September 9, Hisashi Takeuchi, Maruti's MD & CEO said, "By collaborating early and specifying our needs, we can ensure that the chips required by the industry are developed and produced locally, further reducing the dependency on external sources."

Maruti Suzuki MD and CEO said India has a 'huge opportunity' to ramp up exports at hands, as it contributes only two percent of the global auto industry trade, despite a high quotient of exports. "India is emerging as a global hub for auto component sourcing and the industry exports over 25% of its production annually. Last year the auto component industry exported components worth 20 billion dollars. However, this is less than 2% of global auto industry trade, giving us a huge opportunity to further increase exports," he said.

The increasing use of electronics in automotive business has posed a challenge before India to produce new-age technological products at a affordable price point, he said. "The key lies in innovation. Finding ways to integrate advanced features without compromising on cost-effectiveness," he added.

Takeuchi urged the manufacturers association to embrace digitalization to ensure India improves productivity and quality, as well as responds 'more swiftly to market demands'.

Calling for greater partnerships between industry and academia, Maruti's MD and CEO said India's manufacturing must 'support ITIs' and create programs to produce 'industry-ready professionals'. He added that India's manufacturers must extend its expertise in conventional manufacturing to new technologies, which will help create cost-effective, high quality components.

During 2021-22, India's car industry has witnessed a major delay in availability of semiconductors used in automobiles, leading to waiting period for some cars reach as high as two years.

During FY24, despite high commodity prices and hike in vehicle costs, industry saw high vehicle offtake dues to improved semiconductor chip supply and a strong economic growth, according to SIAM.