Q: What, according to you, are the skill gaps persist in the automotive industry still and how is ASDC addressing this?

Sanghi: Automotive manufacturers are currently facing several challenges. With increased pressure to meet customer demand for more personalised designs, they are tasked with creating a more flexible production environment, reducing engineering time and costs, and accelerating the market to remain competitive.

With massive technological transformations taking place across the sector, companies need to keep pace with the ever-evolving landscape to meet the ever-evolving demands of modern-day work.

Acquiring new skills is the key to sustain in this dynamic landscape. It is a continuous effort of both the institute and the corporation to fill the skill gap. Although there are programmes, they are not reflecting the change at the same pace as the change seen by the industry.

Companies today need people who can adapt and develop themselves to the changing technology. Whether automotive or otherwise manufacturers have recognised the importance of creating a workforce of intelligent problem solvers. In addition to these, more manufacturers are now focusing on hiring and training talents that can sustain advances in technology and drive investment. We at ASDC are doing a lot of training activities along with our teams of various zones, including holding webinars and launching various courses.

We are also continually training our team members and associates and dealers to do more reviews on the digital platforms or dealers to focus on digital retail; they were not getting used to it.

They preferred to be physically present, talking face to face, but now this lockdown has left no other option but to adopt the digital route.

Q: Customers are well informed now, and they finalise the model and variant even before reaching the showroom. In this scenario, what kind of skills needed for dealerships?

Sanghi: With ever-increasing ways to capture your customers’ attention across multiple channels, a partner specialising in the customer journey can be an invaluable asset to your business.

Considering the experience from the consumer’s perspective allows the dealer to compete with other, less traditional models.

Social distancing will bring dynamic change to the dealership business. No longer will customers feel comfortable walking into showrooms. Now, the reverse will happen, and OEMs and dealers will have to reach out to customers even more. And going digital will help them do just that.

Sales channels, dealers and OEMs per se will have to increase the transparency level dramatically. That’s because customers will now prefer to engage with them virtually, which in turn means there has to be digital.

Various experiences, like test drives of new cars, which has been a very popular method of selling a passenger vehicle, will be a much-less-used tool for sales. Likewise, a physical inspection of vehicles undergoing maintenance will take a backseat, and the OEM/dealer will have to convey images to customers about the work being done, either in real-time or in some other manner.

Q: Would the new trend catalyse unemployment further?

Sanghi: The pandemic has brought forth the concept of work from home to enable social distancing, which earlier would never have been thought to be possible for a vast majority of the jobs. You will need to train them (workforce) on how to use digital tools, and train the entire ecosystem to monitor the efficiency.

The need for top-notch cybersecurity is vital; one has to be absolutely sure that the data is secured and not misused. Data integrity needs to be 100 percent. Organisations will need to upskill existing staff to be digital and tech-savvy. All the while, the focus has to be on the data which is supposed to be the oil of the economy that is secured and owned by the owner, and not someone else.

Q: How do you match the curriculum with the ever-evolving customer needs and changing regulatory environment?

Sanghi: While the automotive industry may be facing some challenges, digital manufacturing and technological progress are enabling automotive engineers to deliver products to market faster than ever before.

This is easing the competitive pressure on car manufacturers, and going some way to fill the void left by the shortage of skilled engineers.

COVID-19 has introduced digitalisation as the key to the future. For organisations and the country, this means a huge opportunity to upskill and reskill our workforce using digital tools. This will not only help the country stabilise manufacturing activities, but will also help to improve the standard of living, that well allows for economic growth.

Q: What are the challenges you face with emerging technology trends like electrified, automated, shared technology as each of these elements needs specialised training supported by adequate infrastructure?

Sanghi: A big change happening because of digitalisation and COVID-19 has just helped increase the focus. The current lockdown has brought the focus on skilling and digitalisation into sharp focus. Smart industrialisation is here to say; one can look at their people’s daily lives, particularly in urban and some parts of rural India, to experience that they are now more reliant on digital tools than they were in pre-COVID-19 days.

While skills shortage is an issue far wider than the automotive industry, reasons can be identified why this sector has a lack of skilled workers. For the manufacturing sector, it means moving from labour-intensive methodologies to automation. COVID has accelerated the growth of the cyber-physical world. India should marry men with the machine to enhance productivity. Highly skewed income distribution and a lack of respect for labour remain a big concern. Lack of respect leads to lower productivity and efficiency, which serve to robs India of a competitive edge.

Q: The technological changes that are coming off late are mostly the result of either legislation or regulation. In this scenario, how do you see ASDC transform in the future?

Sanghi: Demand-driven skilling has been the focus of every industry. At ASDC, we’ve conceptualised the digital platform in such a way that it provides all the information together, at one place. For example, the availability of jobs in a sub-sector, what is the prediction for upcoming job roles and what are the skills in demand. It will provide links to all our partners wherein they can share their projections and find the right candidates.

There have been many modifications to the apprenticeship programmes, and these are rightly intended in making it inclusive. We are happy with the Government making these phenomenal improvements, and we hope the industry members engage more apprentices. For the automotive sector, ASDC is the delivery partner for apprenticeships. We also see a lot of enthusiasm from component manufacturers and dealers to explore apprenticeship as an option to get a skilled workforce.

Q: Today, almost all vehicles, including trucks, are connected in one way or the other. What are the new challenges that emerge out of these connected vehicles? What is the solution from ASDC?

Sanghi: The automotive industry is converging with the information and communication technology (ICT) industry at a rapidly increasing rate. Technology is reshaping the global automotive sector. In the future, cars will become computers on wheels as tech players’ move into the automotive sector to leverage their existing capabilities.

When we are talking about the challenges, it can be the difference in lifecycles in the automotive and the mobile industry is a serious challenge for the future of connected cars. New features, such as operating system upgrades and new applications, are provided almost constantly for the smartphone, whereas car manufacturers work on five-year cycles. The advent of connected cars will dramatically change the dealership model as a whole. Salespeople must plan to spend an hour or more teaching customers how to use their car’s advanced technology.

Also, issues such as privacy, security, the cost of deploying a system, data ownership, driver distraction, and equity must be taken into consideration in the technology of connected vehicles/cars.

Q: How is ASDC preparing itself to support the maintenance and repair of electric vehicles?

Sanghi: Complex maintenance is one of the most common concerns that affect electric vehicle (EV) adoption. In reality, however, the intervals between each service in an EV are almost the same as for regular vehicles, and those services are usually less complicated. Traditional vehicles have hundreds of mechanical and moving parts, whereas an EV contains far fewer. Parts of an EV are generally easy to replace and don’t wear out as quickly.

The only major “potential” expense in EV maintenance is replacing the battery. As the vehicle reaches 100,000 miles, it may have lost up to 20% of its range.

Some batteries are designed to replace modules in contrast to the whole battery, but it depends on the way the car is made. Although it may take significantly less time to perform a service on an EV, there are other differences in the service process that can affect an OEM’s aftersales business.

We at ASDC have upgraded our training systems to look after the present modes of maintenance.

The way forward is our entire training programme is under review by industry partners. We have expert groups in R&D, manufacturing; they are in the process of reviewing all our occupational standards and upgrading them, not only for the present but also for the future.

Q: What is your view on data storing wirelessly that may affect multi-brand third-party service centres; how do you see ASDC playing a role in this?

Sanghi: Wireless connectivity for the vehicle may pose serious cybersecurity threats to a moving vehicle.

However, the issue of multi-brand third-party service centres, including service aggregator platforms, are here to stay.

ASDC in partnership with some of the industry partners is keen on providing Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for existing manpower as well as upskilling training of existing workers through blended digital learning modules for new technologies linked to new norms like BS-VI standards of emission, etc.

Q: What is ASDC’s work on conserving resources like use of remanufactured parts?

Sanghi: All stakeholders, including the current Government, have felt the need for a well-balanced vehicle scrappage policy; we expect to see its roll-out soon. This can boost a lot in refurbished and remanufactured parts. It opens a new sub-domain, generating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities. Once the policy contours are known, the training qualifications and standards will be worked upon by ASDC.

Q: What are the new courses ASDC is planning to conduct in the near future?

Sanghi: ASDC has started work on new job roles in the areas of Industry 4.0 for manufacturing and maintenance areas and the entire domain of electric vehicles. We are modifying some of the existing job roles to update the new technological changes and disruptions that have taken place in this industry. (MT)

Germany-headquartered world’s largest chemical producer BASF has completed the transaction with Carlyle involving its coatings business, which now operates as Surventis.

The deal, which reached an enterprise value of EUR 7.7 billion, concluded on 30 June 2026 following regulatory approval with BASF receiving pre-tax cash proceeds of approximately EUR 5.8 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, BASF retains a 40 percent equity stake in Surventis, which includes the automotive OEM coatings, automotive refinish coatings and surface treatment operations. This transaction, combined with the divestiture of the decorative paints business in 2025, values the former Coatings division at EUR 8.7 billion.

Dr. Markus Kamieth, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, said, “This successful closing marks a key milestone in the execution of our Winning Ways strategy aimed at unlocking the value of our standalone businesses. By holding a 40 percent equity stake, we will continue to participate in the future value creation of the coatings business while sharpening BASF’s strategic focus.”

Anup Kothari, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, BASF SE, added, “We are convinced that the new ownership structure provides an excellent foundation for future profitable growth of Surventis. We wish the former BASF Coatings employees every success as they move forward into their future as an independent company.”

BASF has accounted for the coatings business as discontinued operations since September 2025. From July 2026, the 40 percent stake in Surventis will be treated as a financial investment accounted for using the equity method.

Pune-headquartered global product engineering and digital services company Tata Technologies and automotive component supplier Tenneco have signed an agreement to expand their partnership, committing to technical development and digital innovation.

The collaboration, which began in 2021, is based at Tata Technologies’ Global Engineering Center in Pune. It focuses on product development and operations through the use of engineering, digital technologies, and AI.

The agreement was signed by Jon Bagrosky, Chief Administrative Officer of Tenneco, and Warren Harris, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Technologies.

As part of the understanding, Tenneco plans to invest over USD 100 million in this engagement over the next five years.

Jon Bagrosky, said, “This next phase builds on the strong foundation we’ve established with Tata Technologies and reflects the continued importance of India as a strategic growth region for Tenneco. By expanding this partnership, we are strengthening the capabilities, scale and agility needed to support our customers, respond to evolving market needs and deliver long-term value across our global business.”

Warren Harris, said, “Tenneco has been a valued strategic partner, and this expanded engagement reflects the strength of our shared commitment. As Tenneco accelerates its mobility transformation journey, we are proud to bring together deep domain expertise, digital capabilities, and business transformation experience to support Tenneco’s global growth agenda.”

Hero MotoCorp, the world’s largest two-wheeler manufacturer, has announced a cumulative investment of over INR 32 billion in Andhra Pradesh.

The announcement was made as the company held a foundation stone ceremony for its second Global Parts Centre (GPC) in Tirupati, which involves an investment of Rs 7.5 billion.

N Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, said, “Hero MotoCorp has been a valued partner in Andhra Pradesh's growth journey, and particularly in the transformation of Rayalaseema. Its decision to establish the Global Parts Centre in Tirupati is a strong endorsement of our state's progressive policies, world-class infrastructure, investor-friendly ecosystem, and our commitment to the Speed of Doing Business. Over the years, Hero MotoCorp's presence has generated thousands of jobs, strengthened local supply chains, enhanced skills, and accelerated economic growth across Rayalaseema and Andhra Pradesh. We are delighted to see this partnership grow even stronger. This landmark investment will create new opportunities for our youth, strengthen the industrial economy of Rayalaseema, and further establish Tirupati as one of India's leading manufacturing, mobility and logistics hubs. As Rayalaseema emerges as a major centre for industry, innovation and advanced manufacturing, partnerships like these will play a defining role in shaping its future. We deeply appreciate Hero MotoCorp's continued trust in Andhra Pradesh and look forward to working together to build a future-ready, globally competitive industrial ecosystem that drives innovation, creates quality employment, and delivers sustainable prosperity for all.”

Dr Pawan Munjal, Executive Chairman, Hero MotoCorp, said, "At Hero MotoCorp, we have always believed that business growth and nation-building go hand in hand. The foundation stone of our second Global Parts Centre in Tirupati marks an important milestone in our journey and reflects our deep confidence in India’s future and Andhra Pradesh’s vision for growth. By transforming Tirupati into a future-ready manufacturing and electric mobility hub, this investment will enhance our global supply chain, support our expansion across markets, and reaffirm our commitment to 'Made in India, for India and the World.' It is deeply meaningful to mark this milestone on the birth anniversary of my father, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal. He believed in building enduring institutions and always preparing for the future. It is deeply meaningful to mark this milestone on the 103rd birth anniversary of my beloved father, our Founder and Chairman Emeritus, Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal. A true visionary, he championed the belief that great institutions are not just built to survive the present but are actively sculpted to lead the future. This Centre is a humble tribute to his vision, values and enduring belief in India’s potential. I am certain that this new Centre will proudly carry forward his legacy of enterprise, purpose and service to the nation.”

The Global Parts Centre is expected to support domestic and international operations. The company plans to scale the annual production capacity of the Tirupati plant to between 1.2 and 1.5 million units. The expansion is projected to create 4,000 jobs.

Furthermore, Hero MotoCorp also introduced two community programmes the ‘Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal Heroes of Tomorrow Scholarship’ to provide tuition coverage for students pursuing engineering degrees at state IIITs. And the company would deploy VIDA electric scooters and providing safety training for women police personnel in the Tirupati district.

Automotive component supplier Rane (Madras) has signed a business transfer agreement to acquire the friction business of Hindustan Composites on a slump sale basis for an enterprise value of INR 3.7 billion.

The acquired business includes manufacturing plants in Paithan and Bhandara, Maharashtra. The facilities manufacture brake pads, brake linings, clutch facings and brake blocks.

The agreement also includes the transfer of the ‘COMPO’ brand name, which is intended to increase market access across distribution and aftermarket channels. Rane’s (Madras) existing friction business generates revenue exceeding INR 7 billion and the merger of these operations will scale the friction materials business to more than INR 10 billion.

Harish Lakshman, Chairman, Rane Group, said that the integration of the complementary operations is intended to build a scaled friction solutions platform to service the domestic transportation sector while creating manufacturing and supply efficiencies. The company expects the transaction to reach financial and operational closure by the end of the second quarter of the current fiscal year.