Dana bullish on India EV market, eyes demand for both high- and low-voltage applications

Dana, which has invested Rs 133 crore in Switch Mobility will supply e-axles, gearboxes, motors, inverters, software and controls, and electronics cooling

Dana, the global leader in drivetrain and e-propulsion systems, is betting big on India’s electric vehicle and electric mobility market. The American major, which in July 2021, inked a strategic tie-up and too a 1% stake in Ashok Leyland’s EV subsidiary Switch Mobility, says India offers huge opportunities in the EV market.

Dana, which will be a preferred supplier of electric drivetrain components for Switch Mobility’s e-bus and e-CVs including e-axles, gearboxes, motors, inverters, software and controls, and electronics cooling, recently opened a dedicated EV drivetrain manufacturing facility in Pune. This facility will supply technologies to manufacturers for a variety of electrified vehicle applications, including buses and trucks. With the addition of electric motors, inverters and vehicle control units to Dana’s current capabilities in India, the company is poised to serve as a preferred supplier with in-house capabilities to deliver complete and fully integrated e-Propulsion systems to OEM customers across all mobility markets.

”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 percent,” Gajanan Gandhe, country head-India at Dana, told PTI.

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

Eyes potential in last-mile mobility market
Dana, which is a global leader in electrification, specifically the high-voltage segment, is also bullish on demand coming its way from manufacturers of electrified two- and three-wheelers as well as small CVs which need low-voltage application. These vehicles, typically, are deployed for last-mile application which is benefiting from the massive boom in the e-commerce industry.

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

According to Dana’s Country Head for India, the company is clear about which areas it wants to invest in, organically or inorganically, as it considers multiple factors including maximum demand, growth opportunity, its competitive advantage in terms of the technology, its operations as well as its engineering capability.

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),” said Gandhe.

”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 concluded.

Dana’s presence in India dates to the 1960s and, through its facilities and affiliates, today manufactures an entire product portfolio, including axles, driveshafts, sealing, and thermal technologies for the automotive, commercial, and off-highway vehicle markets from 18 plants including the new EV components facility in Pune.  More than 5,000 employees currently work for Dana in India. The company’s Dana India Technical Center in Pune has more than 250 engineers and serves a technology hub for Dana globally.