To strategically consolidate its India business domains with renewed impetus and drive growth over the next decade, ZF is investing € 200 million in its India operations. Part of its Refresh India four-point strategy
The strategy revolves around four key areas - Readapt, Reinforce, Retain and Restructure, and supports repositioning of the unique ZF brand identity in the country. According to the company, the new and evolved brand identity of the Group in the region will accurately represent this new phase through this strategy.
Readapt
As per readapt strategy, the company, through higher levels of localisation and a strong thrust on design-to-market solutions, aims to introduce advanced global technological solutions at an affordable value for the Indian market.
Its second strategy - reinforce, will evolve the India operations tobecome a global hub for worldwide requirements across R&D, IT & digital innovation, manufacturing and material sourcing. In the recent past, substantial progress has been made to utilise the Indian supplier base for child part requirements for the various divisions. ZF will continue to leverage India’s manufacturing capabilities by expanding its footprint in the country. The group will set up a new manufacturing facility in Chennai and plan to increase other facilities' utilisation.
The third strategy - retain- will enable the group to set high safety, quality, and sustainability performance standards. It will continue to unlock its innovation power in the region by investing in the overall development of its employees.
Lastly, under restructure strategy, the group has already divested its shareholding interest of 49% in Brakes India to meet the Anti-Trust guidelines of CCI, post the acquisition of Wabco. Besides, it is a majority stakeholder of Wabco India and is undertaking the necessary next steps to ensure all regulatory guidelines are adhered to.
On the strategic imperative for India, Dr Holger Klein, ZF Member of the Board responsible for Asia Pacific and India, said the group strongly believes in the region’s long-term growth potential despite the difficult situation in India due to COVID-19. Hence the group launched the Refresh India four-point strategy, which includes an intensive plan to rapidly grow its business in one of the largest automotive markets in the world. “We plan to invest around 200 million Euros in the next few years to aid this growth through product launches, manufacturing and engineering footprint expansions, hiring and other developments across all business domains,” he added.