India offers huge opportunities in EV space: US auto component maker Dana

American auto component maker Dana has said that India offers huge opportunities for the company in the EV space and it continues to invest in all its facilities depending upon the demand.

The company earlier this year made a minority investment in Switch Mobility to develop electric vehicle (EV) drivetrains with Ashok Leyland's electric commercial vehicle arm.

Dana has 18 facilities in India, which include joint ventures as well as a recently launched dedicated EV drivetrain manufacturing facility in Pune.

"We are extremely bullish on the high-voltage market. We believe that there is a huge opportunity to tap for Dana which is why investing in the electrification products and increasing our localisation to as much as 60-70 per cent," Gajanan Gandhe, country head-India at Dana, told PTI.

 

It will help the company remain in the lead to support all the requirements coming in India, especially following the announcement of the PLI scheme that requires companies to localise and also invest up to a certain level, which Dana is doing, he said.

Dana is a leader in electrification, especially in the high-voltage segment.

Stating that it is quite optimistic about the growth in electrification, he said that even on the low-voltage side where Dana supplies to the two/three-wheelers and small commercial vehicle makers, it sees opportunity, especially in the last-mile mobility.

"We see a good opportunity (in these segments also), especially in the last-mile mobility," Gandhe added.

He also said, "We believe that switch starts to win businesses in India, we will be tagging along with them for most of the products that we can sell to them, whether it's motors, inverters, accelerator powertrain components."

Dana has a strong lead, technology and localisation capability besides local talent to support the development of solutions for its customers and therefore, it sees electrification as a major opportunity for itself, Gandhe said.

He also said the company is clear about which areas it wants to invest in, organically or inorganically, as it looks at factors such as the maximum demand growth opportunity, its competitive advantage in those areas in terms of the technology or its operations as well as its engineering capability.

"And, then obviously, we look at making capital investments in those areas. So, we have invested in most of our plants around India, whether it's in Pune for passenger vehicles, or in Noida, for off-highway vehicles or Sanad for small commercial vehicles (among others)," Gandhe said.

"So, we continue to invest in all these facilities, where it makes sense for us to believe that there's a stronger market, and as well as we have a strong competitive advantage," he stated.

Dana is a global leader in drivetrain, e-propulsion systems, supplies axles, driveshafts, transmissions, and electrodynamic, thermal, sealing, digital equipment for conventional, hybrid, and electric-powered vehicles.