Bharat Forge Navigates Global Headwinds, Defence Orders Provide Strong Tailwind in FY2025

Bharat Forge

Bharat Forge, one of India’s leading automotive component suppliers, has demonstrated resilience in its standalone financial performance for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2025, navigating global headwinds while capitalising on robust growth in its defence sector business.  The company showcased a steady performance despite challenges in certain international markets.

For Q4 FY2025, Bharat Forge recorded standalone revenues of INR 21 billion, with an EBITDA of INR 6 billion, translating to a healthy EBITDA margin of 29.1 percent. The company also reported a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of INR 4.9 billion.

For FY2025, Bharat Forge reported standalone revenues of INR 88 billion, a marginal dip of 1.4 percent compared to the INR 89 billion recorded in FY2024. Despite this slight decrease in revenue, the company managed to improve its profitability, with EBITDA at INR 25 billion (EBITDA margin of 28.5 percent) and PBT at INR 19 billion, both showing a marginal improvement compared to the previous fiscal year. The company also highlighted a strong balance sheet with cash on books of INR 26 billion.

The company stated that FY25 Revenues remained flat despite weakness in European CVs, mixed performance in export PV business. Oil & Gas recouped from the lows of FY24 while Defence displayed steady growth.

At a consolidated level, Bharat Forge reported revenues of INR 15.1 billion in FY2025, remaining relatively flat compared to the INR 15.6 billion in FY24. However, the company saw a significant improvement in consolidated EBITDA margins, rising from 16.4 percent to 18.2 percent.

A significant highlight of the year was the strong order inflow, particularly in the defence sector. During Q4 FY25, the company secured new orders worth INR 43 billion, including a substantial INR 34 billion towards the ATAGS order. As of March 2025, the defence order book stood at a robust INR 94 billion. For the entire fiscal year, the Bharat Forge group secured new orders worth INR 69 billion, with the defence sector accounting for an impressive 70 percent of these new wins.

The company also highlighted the strong performance of its ferrous castings business, which witnessed significant growth with revenues increasing by 23 percent, EBITDA by 35 percent, and a doubling of profits compared to FY2024. Key return ratios for this segment exceeded 20 percent.

Looking ahead to FY2026, Bharat Forge outlined its strategic focus on improving consolidated profitability through several internal actions. These include reducing losses in the e-mobility vertical, evaluating options for the steel business in Europe, improving operational performance in the aluminium business, leveraging North American manufacturing footprint and focusing on new business wins across traditional forgings, defence, aerospace and castings. The company also anticipates the integration of the AAM India business in FY2026, which is expected to further enhance its product portfolio and presence in the Indian market.

Rahul Desai Succeeds Amit Srivastava As CEO Of Remsons Industries

Rahul Desai - Remsons

Automotive cable and shifter manufacturer Remsons Industries has appointed Rahul Prabhakar Desai as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 3 August 2026. He succeeds Amit Srivastava, whose resignation takes effect at the close of business hours on 4 September 2026.

Desai comes with three decades of experience in automotive manufacturing, including 17 years in executive roles. Before joining Remsons Industries, he was Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer at Pinnacle Industries, overseeing five manufacturing facilities.

He previously served as Chief Executive Officer at CIE India, managing multiple business divisions and ten manufacturing plants, and held leadership positions at GKN Sinter Metals and Inteva Products.

Throughout his career, Desai has managed greenfield plant setups, manufacturing optimisation projects and supply partnerships with original equipment manufacturers. He holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a Six Sigma Black Belt certification and has completed executive management training at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad alongside technical programs in Japan and the United States.

Varroc Appoints Eric Hamon As Chief Technical Officer

Eric Hamon

Pune-headquartered tier 1 supplier Varroc has appointed Eric Hamon as Chief Technical Officer, effective 3 August 2026. He joins the company with 25 years of engineering experience across the automotive sector.

Hamon comes with experience in electrification, electrical and electronic architectures, software-defined vehicle platforms, embedded software, functional safety and cybersecurity operations.

Before joining Varroc, Hamon was Director – E Axle & System Platforms at Valeo E, where he managed product strategy for electric axle platforms. His career includes work in system engineering, embedded hardware and software development, electric powertrains and regional engineering operations.

In his new role, he will report to Arjun Jain, Whole Time Director & CEO - Business I at Varroc. He will lead the company's global technology and engineering organisation, taking charge of technology strategy, product portfolio optimisation in electrification & connected systems and engineering process development.

Arjun Jain said, "We are delighted to welcome Eric Hamon to Varroc's leadership team. Eric brings a rare combination of deep technical expertise, global engineering leadership and a proven ability to translate technology into vehicle requirements. As our industry accelerates towards electrification, connectivity and sustainability, his leadership will play a pivotal role our accelerating growth."

Eric Hamon said, "I am excited to join Varroc at such a transformative time for the global automotive industry. The pace of innovation in electrification, software and connected mobility presents tremendous opportunities to redefine the future of mobility. Varroc has built a strong foundation of engineering excellence, customer trust and global manufacturing capability, and I look forward to working with talented teams across the world to accelerate innovation, deepen customer collaboration and develop technologies that enable safe, smart and sustainable mobility."

Matel Motion & Energy

Mechatronics company Matel Motion & Energy Solutions (Matel) has raised Rs 1.3 billion in a Series B funding round led by UC Impower, along with new investor Catamaran and participation from existing backer Transition VC.

Founded in 2017, Pune-based Matel develops motors, motor controllers and integrated powertrains for automotive and industrial uses, including electric vehicles, pumping and cooling systems. The company manufactures permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM)-based IE5 industrial motors and is developing an IE6 product line. It also produces magnet-free motor designs to mitigate supply chain reliance on raw materials. Matel supplies components to original equipment manufacturers in two-wheeler, three-wheeler and industrial sectors.

The capital will be used to expand manufacturing capacity, advance research and development infrastructure, enlarge product offerings for commercial electric vehicles, and expand international distribution channels.

Sunil Patel, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Matel, said, "Securing this funding is a significant milestone for Matel, but more importantly, it is a testament to the incredible hard work of our team and the trust our early customers have placed in us. We founded Matel to address a major vacuum in Indian industries by delivering locally designed and developed energy-efficient mechatronics products and this investment allows us to double down on our mission. With this capital, our primary focus will be accelerating our product roadmap with advanced R&D infrastructure and expanding state-of-the-art manufacturing set-up. We are thrilled to welcome New Investors (UC Impower and Catamaran) as our new partners in this journey, and we are deeply grateful to our existing investors (Transition VC, Gruhas and Haresh Abichandani) for their continued belief and support from day one."

Netaji Patro, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Matel, said, “We are incredibly excited and grateful for the trust our investors have placed in our vision. The unwavering commitment of our existing investors, who have chosen to double down and reinvest in this round, is the ultimate vote of confidence in our growth trajectory. In addition to R&D, and manufacturing capacity expansion, this capital will support expanding our product range and entry into the Electric CV segment as well as broadening the company's international footprint to acquire new customers worldwide.”

Richa Natarajan, Co-Founder and Partner, UC Impower, said, "Energy efficiency will be one of the defining themes of the next industrial cycle, and companies that own core technology will create disproportionate value. Very few companies combine deep motor technology, power electronics and software into a single platform - and fewer still have translated that capability into products being adopted by leading OEMs. Matel has done both. We believe the company is building category-defining technology for the future of electrification, with the potential to become a global leader in energy-efficient motion systems. We're excited to partner with Sunil, Netaji and the team as they build an enduring technology company from India."

Shantanu Chaturvedi, Partner at Transition VC, said, “Matel isn't just a motor manufacturer; they have demonstrated the ability to be an integrated drive solutions platform across segments like Industrials, EV, Auto ancillary and multiple others. We saw Matel having the capability to build the platform the world needs when we earlier invested, and that is exactly how this has panned out, making doubling down in this round a no-brainer. Super excited to work with the incredible team.”

Deepak Padaki, President, Catamaran, said, "Catamaran's investment in Matel reflects our continued conviction in India's precision engineering and advanced manufacturing ecosystem, and marks a deepening of our exposure to companies building core, IP-led hardware technology. Matel is in mission mode, and we are confident of its ability to scale given its engineering talent, in-house R&D, process expertise and OEM traction. We look forward to supporting Sunil, Netaji and the team on their journey."

The management team is led by Patel, who previously headed the Chetak EV development program at Bajaj Auto and Patro, who held research and development leadership positions at Maruti Suzuki India and Bajaj Auto.

AUMOVIO, BMW Group Settle Brake Dispute And Ink EUR 1 Billion Supply Agreement

Aumovio

German tier 1 supplier AUMOVIO and the BMW Group have executed a long-term supply and development agreement valued at over EUR 1 billion, while simultaneously settling all pending legal proceedings concerning a past brake system warranty case.

Under the terms of the settlement, AUMOVIO Germany, a subsidiary of AUMOVIO SE, formerly Continental’s Automotive Group sector, will pay BMW EUR 350 million. The settlement amount will be disbursed in two instalments across the third and fourth quarters of 2026.

Prior to the agreement, AUMOVIO had recognised a risk provision of EUR 54 million for the matter. The financial settlement resolves all outstanding claims between BMW, Continental and AUMOVIO.

Alongside the legal resolution, the companies have expanded their technology partnership through new supply contracts for brake systems and electronic controls for future vehicle architectures.

The agreement extends series deliveries of AUMOVIO's MK C2 integrated brake system to BMW through the mid-2030s. The MK C2 unit combines the master cylinder, brake booster, anti-lock braking and electronic stability control into a single module designed to support regenerative braking, pressure build-up for automated driving and vehicle weight reduction.

Philipp von Hirschheydt, CEO, AUMOVIO, said, “The agreement with the BMW Group is an important step for us to strengthen our business relationship. It demonstrates confidence in our innovative brake technology and at the same time motivates us to further advance the partnership between our companies and jointly shape the future of mobility.”

The contract portfolio also covers the supply of brake calipers and electronic control units. The expanded commitments establish supply chain continuity for BMW's upcoming vehicle platforms while securing long-term production volumes for AUMOVIO.