In the global automotive sector, where geopolitical tariffs and rapidly divergent technological paths dictate business strategy, the quest for regional resilience has become paramount. For Martin Fischer, Group Chief Executive Officer of global auto component giant Forvia, this quest has led directly to India.
Fischer, a global automotive leader with over 25 years of experience, took the CEO reins in March, quickly moving to re-evaluate the company’s decade-spanning presence in the subcontinent. What he found was a significant footprint with around 6,000 employees, split between manufacturing operations and a robust engineering base, but a return on investment that felt out of sync with India’s massive growth potential.
Forvia’s involvement in India dates back to the late 1950s, through its predecessor Hella, which was one of the market’s early pioneers. However, the structure of the business had evolved primarily into an “extended workbench”. Until recently, 90% of the engineering work done by the Indian teams was dedicated to supporting global programs, serving as a hub for offshoring design and administrative services.
Fischer observed that the company was not present with a full portfolio. Globally, Forvia ended 2024 with a turnover of €26.97 billion. In India, Forvia’s current annual product sales are around €400 million, or a mere 1.5%.
“When I looked at our book of business, I thought: It’s not quite representative of what the Indian market is today and what it offers also in terms of growth opportunities,'” Fischer told Autocar Professional during his recent India visit. Now, the focus is reversing the long-standing strategy, shifting India from a design service provider to a “real parts business force,” sourcing and supplying to Indian customers locally, the top executive noted.
Forvia is undertaking a major strategic push into the Indian market, setting an ambitious target to more than double its local revenue to over €1 billion (approximately Rs 10,000 crore) within the next five years. The company is growing at approximately 11% in India, which is roughly twice the market CAGR of 5–6%. This massive projected growth, up from the current product sales of over €400 million, is being fueled by a committed investment of approximately €218 million (approximately Rs 1,964 crore) focused on local manufacturing and advanced technology.
Martin Fischer, Group CEO, Forvia
Focused Investments Underpin Growth
Forvia Hella is targeting growth of over 25% in India across all its business groups — Electronics, Lighting, and Lifecycle Solutions — over the next five years. To support this ambition, the company is driving significant localization, with planned investments of more than Rs 1,000 crore (approx) in Electronics and Lighting by 2030.
The largest allocation targets the rapidly growing Forvia Hella Electronics segment, which currently generates just over €100 million in turnover and is targeted to grow four times over the next five years, aiming for more than €400 million. To support this rapid expansion, the company will allocate approximately Rs 800 crore toward installing new capacities.
“So that will go in the direction of around Rs 800 crores we put in electronics,” remarked the top executive on his first visit to India after taking over the new job. Secondly, in the seating business, the company plans to launch a new facility dedicated to manufacturing complete seats. The goal is to grow this segment five times in five years, pushing revenue past €150 million from the current base of approximately €30 million.
Likewise, clean mobility (exhaust systems), which is already a leading segment for the company in India, will also see enforcement, including the construction of a new plant in the northern region to be closer to customers. The plan is to double the turnover from its current €100 million plus to over €200 million. Furthermore, Forvia is investing in a modern lighting plant specifically for passenger cars, which will offer a complete range of solutions sourced from India. Additionally, they are extending a plant for specialized lighting applications, including those for trucks, farm machinery, and aftermarket solutions.
Frugal Engineering and Empowerment
Driving this dramatic growth requires a fundamental shift in operational philosophy. Fischer, an engineer by training, is implementing a cultural and organizational rehaul, embracing decentralization. “I believe a lot in local for local and empowering the teams in the world to do what’s right for the market,” Fischer stated.
This regionalized structure is seen as crucial for navigating the “VUCA world”, a climate characterized by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity that features decoupling, tariffs, and differing technological adoption speeds across Asia, Europe, and North America. Fischer believes this regional focus strengthens the supply chain against global risks like natural disasters and tariffs.
On the engineering front, the transition means the Indian teams are leading the charge in “frugal engineering”, a targeted affordability-based solution mindset. Furthermore, Forvia is aggressively pursuing efficiency through technological integration, driving efficiency through the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Examples include managing supplier contracts, and using Generative AI for mechanical design proposals, dramatically shortening the design loop before human verification.
The China Speed Challenge
The largest structural challenge for European automotive component arms like Forvia in India is the market composition. The landscape is heavily dominated by Japanese, Korean, and local Indian brands. Breaking into these established customer bases, which have their own long-term supplier relationships, is a “big stranglehold,” according to industry observers.
Forvia leveraged a strategic advantage gained years ago through the acquisition of Clarion Electronics. Clarion, with its traditional audio brand and infotainment offerings in Japan, provided a crucial foothold to Japanese customers, which has successfully bridged into the domestic Indian market. Globally, Fischer must also contend with the disruptive concept of “China speed,” where product life cycles have shrunk drastically.
China dictates rapid innovation and development times, with processes like headlamp development being completed in nine months, compared to two years elsewhere. Fischer is adopting key lessons from Forvia’s significant Chinese operation (which accounts for over 20% of global sales). The Chinese team is highly empowered to make quick local decisions and deeply localize the supply chain.
While replicating work habits like 24-hour R&D operations is difficult in other regions, Forvia is copying processes to shorten validation and testing times globally. This experience is directly relevant to India, as local Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), such as Tata Motors and Mahindra executives, are actively benchmarking China’s efficiency and agility.
Forvia’s deep presence in China allows the company to act as a crucial link, leveraging that expertise to guide Indian OEMs. Furthermore, as powerful Chinese OEMs (like BYD) expand globally, including setting up bases in India, Forvia is positioned to follow them, offering local infrastructure and capacity in their new geographies.
On a parting note, the top exective maintains strong confidence in the ability of the newly empowered Indian unit to meet, and potentially exceed, these ambitious goals. “I could almost place a bet that when we go through that empowerment way, and say we let loose the Indian team, we are going to exceed the expectations,” Fischer said, underscoring the shift from conservative planning to aggressive, localized execution.