Power List 2020 – ZF India

With technology driven trends like autonomous vehicles, connected vehicles, electrification and shared mobility (ACES), advanced driver assistance
systems (ADAS) changing the mobility industry in India, developing new technology is definitely a major facet. As a company, ZF has always focused on innovation and bringing newer technology to the fore. I also believe that developing new products to expand one’s presence and tapping newer product lines is important.

Venturing into new segments is extremely beneficial for a business. But the critical point is that these products need to meet the local consumer expectations and the prevailing statute which implies that the design should be in line with the local needs. Apart from developing new technologies cost and lead time optimisation are also equally important factors to achieve competitive advantage in a market like India where customer satisfaction and cost plays an important role.

In the recent past we have launched a toned down version of our CV transmissions to cater to the vehicles with lower torque requirements. With this, we now have two variants of the same transmission to cater to the different models of vehicles of a particular customer. Another example would be the launch of the CV damper production line in India for export of shock absorbers. We have achieved this with 60 percent of the machines sourced locally. This manufacturing set-up has helped make the product cost competitive and has been extremely beneficial for ZF.