The Indian automotive sector has been ever evolving and has been consistently growing at a rate of 9.5% per year. One among the top five automotive markets globally, the India auto segment saw a combined sale of passenger and commercial vehicles touch 3.49 million in 2020. When it comes to production as well, India was the seventh largest producer of commercial vehicles in 2019.

However, the segment saw a few grey clouds all through last year owing to a combination of factors such as overall growth slowdown, new emission norms, and the weakening consumer confidence. These factors affected equipment manufacturers segment with several firms seeing job losses and block closures.

However, even in the midst of this downturn, there has been an upswing in the growth of technology driven companies coming to the fore. Collectively called as AutoTech, these young firms have brought out a new dimension is the traditional industry. Be it online car sellers, EV manufacturers, or after sales service providers there has been no dearth of innovation and growth in the said segment. We have also seen the emergence of next gen startups creating automated cars, electric vehicles for end consumers among others things. There has also been a rise in tech such as voice-enabled operations, improved security and IoT enabled connectivity that has been making driving a better experience for users.

There has also been ample support rendered from established industry players and venture capital firms. Maruti Suzuki along with Indo-Japanese seed fund and co-creation center, GHV Accelerator launched Mobility & Automobile Innovation Lab. The initiative was to find futuristic and customer-oriented technology driven startups providing innovative and cutting-edge digital solutions in the mobility & automobile space.

Similarly, Tata Motors launched AutoMobility Collaboration Network to engage with the start-up community and technology companies to spark innovative solutions in the automotive technologies and mobility ecosystem.

Lately we have also witnessed several automotive majors acquiring stakes in up and coming autotech startups. One thing is for sure, the Indian autotech segment is set up for high growth in the days to come.

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