Gabriel India Limited, ANAND Group’s BSE-listed flagship company, on Tuesday signed a Technical Collaboration and Alliance agreement with the $1.5 billion Dutch-based Inalfa Roof Systems (Inalfa) to manufacture sunroofs for the fast-growing Indian automotive market.
The newly formed Inalfa Gabriel Sunroof Systems Pvt. Ltd. (IGSS), which will initially be a wholly owned subsidiary of Gabriel India (gabr.ns), will manufacture sunroofs for PVs at a new plant near Chennai that will start operations in the Q1 of CY 2024 at a projected $22 million investment.
It is intended that IGSS will be converted into a joint venture between INALFA ROOF SYSTEMS GROUP B.V, Netherlands, and Gabriel India Ltd, with Inalfa holding 51% shareholding.
The alliance will see Gabriel India Limited, a national leader in suspensions, enter a new segment that is fast garnering favour, especially with SUV and younger car buyers.
In recent years, rising aspirations, the Covid-led impetus for personal mobility, coupled with higher consumer awareness of more advanced features of PVs such as connectivity and voice control, has created strong demand for sunroofs in India, with some OEMs seeing one-in-five cars sold coming with such fitments that are agnostic to a vehicle’s powertrain. In fact, some OEMs, including Gabriel customers, are seeing close to, or around, 40% of their PV sales come with sunroofs.
“This is the beginning of the golden age for the increasingly knowledgeable, aspirational, and discerning Indian car buyer and, therefore, Gabriel is diversifying into sunroofs to serve this new-age feature-and-cost-conscious customer through its alliance with a leading partner like Inalfa, via its strong ties with world-class OEMs. This will further strengthen Gabriel’s, and the broader ANAND Group’s, position as a trusted partner to nearly all OEMs in India,” said Mr. Manoj Kolhatkar, MD of Gabriel, and member of the ANAND Executive Board.
In fact, industry assessments project that automotive sunroof sales in India could cross well over 7 lakh (700,000) units this calendar year against 5 lakh (500,000) units in 2022. Globally, according to industry research, the automotive sunroof market will reach $13.6 billion by 2030 with a CAGR of 9.3% between 2010 and 2030.
Be First to Comment