The auto component industry remains ’cautiously optimistic’ for the growth of the industry in the current fiscal year despite concerns of another wave of the pandemic, industry body ACMA said on Tuesday.
The turnover of the automotive component industry stood at Rs 1.96 lakh crore (USD 26.6 billion) in April-September 2021, registering a growth of 65 per cent over the first half of the previous year.
“Despite resurgence of demand for vehicles, supply-side issues of availability of semiconductors, increasing input costs, rising logistics costs and availability of containers, among others, continue to hamper recovery in the automotive sector,” Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA) President Sunjay Kapur noted.
The auto component industry, against this backdrop, displayed remarkable resilience, he added.
“Increased value-addition to meet regulatory compliance, fast recovery in external markets and traction in the domestic aftermarket have contributed to the growth of the sector in the first-half of FY 2021-22,” Kapur said.
Going forward, whilst the performance of the vehicle industry during the festive season has not been on expected lines, there are indications that the vehicle demand, in the coming months, will improve, he stated.
“This, together with the increased focus by the auto industry on deep-localisation and the recent announcements of PLI schemes by the Government on Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Batteries and Auto & Auto Components will facilitate the creation of a state-of-the-art automotive value chain and developing India into an attractive alternative source of high-end auto components,” Kapur said.
He added that according to a recent survey of ACMA leadership, despite concerns of another wave of the pandemic, the industry is cautiously optimistic about the prospects of the Indian economy and the automotive sector for 2021-22.
“Auto component manufacturers have now, by and large, recovered and the investment cycle has also commenced,” Kapur noted.
On the subject of the auto component industry preparing to be future-ready, 60 per cent of the respondents mentioned that they were already equipped to be part of the EV supply chain, while the rest would be ready in the next two-odd years, he added.
Commenting on the performance of the auto component industry, ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta pegged the loss due to semiconductor shortage at around Rs 1,000 crore till now this fiscal.
Elaborating further he stated: “Despite the slow offtake in vehicles sales due to supply side issues, especially in the first quarter, the auto component industry demonstrated a remarkable turn-around in the first-half of 2021-22.
“With significant growth in all segments supply to OEMs, exports as also the aftermarket, the component industry grew to Rs 1.96 lakh crore (USD 26.6 billion) registering 65 per cent growth.”
Exports grew 76 per cent to Rs 68.7 lakh crore (USD 9.3 billion) while imports surged 71 per cent to Rs 64.3 lakh crore (USD 8.7 billion) leading to trade surplus of USD 600 million, he added.
The aftermarket, estimated at Rs 38,895 crore also witnessed a steady growth of 25 per cent.
Component sales to OEMs in the domestic market grew 76 per cent to Rs 1.53 lakh crore, he stated.