Announcing that Prime Minister Modi’s message was motivating for the Indian auto industry to work together towards new age technology, world class manufacturing, and next generation infrastructure, Kenichi Ayukawa, President, SIAM and MD & CEO, Maruti Suzuki, in his address during the opening session, said that there was a need to achieve sustainable and productive growth with quality and safety, and protect our environment, resources and raw materials. Stressing on the need for focused efforts, Ayukawa mentioned that SIAM and ACMA have together worked out a localisation roadmap with a target of about 15 to 20 percent further localisation in the next 2 to 5 years. Revealing that SIAM has prepared an approach paper for long term regulation roadmap that takes care of all aspects and gives clarity on future investments, Ayukawa San said that the auto industry is working on new powertrain technologies. He appreciated the government’s announcement of the scrappage policy and PLI scheme. 

Amitabh Kant.

Recognising the contribution of the Indian automobile industry to the Indian economy, Dr Mahendra Nath Pandey, Union Minister of Heavy Industries, Government of India, said that his ministry is working consistently for the growth of the automotive sector. Acknowledging the rise in localisation supported by the PLI initiatives of government, Dr Pandey said that these efforts would make the industry more robust. He stressed on the need to develop EV charging infrastructure as well as manufacture quality products that would help the Indian automobile industry to be regarded as the best in the world. T V Narendran, President, CII and MD, Tata Steel Ltd, in his address, mentioned the need for the right policy support to make India a five-trillion-dollar economy by 2025-26. It is important that the Indian manufacturing sector is strong. He called on the auto industry to focus on six key areas – electric vehicles, circularity, urbanisation, resilient supply chain and an ability to reap in functionality and embed sustainability, going forward. 
 

R C Bhargava.

In his speech, Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, said that the future direction of the auto industry is in the area of shared, connected and electric mobility. He opined that there are four prominent growth drivers that the industry should focus on. These include the expansion of investment in R&D, more focus on innovation in small format mobility segment, establishment of massive charging infrastructure across the country and provision of export impetus to the industry. Kant said that EV should be an integral part in every OEM’s plans. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari spoke about the government’s aim to increase the contribution of the automotive sector towards the nation’s GDP. Currently, the sector contributes roughly 7.1 percent towards the GDP, he said. Revealing that the government would like to see the contribution rise to 12 percent, the union minister stated that it would amount to a huge step towards making India a five-trillion-dollar economy. Expressing gratitude to the dignitaries for their presence, Vipin Sondhi, Vice President, SIAM and MD, Ashok Leyland Ltd, drew attention towards the effect of Covid-19 on sales. 
 

Appreciating the efforts of the Ministry of Heavy Industries to create world-class testing and R&D infrastructure in all the auto hubs of the country, he spoke about how the auto industry will take advantage of localisation, PLI scheme and EV charging infrastructure. These efforts, he added, will contribute to the government’s initiative of ‘Make in India’. In a session focusing on the outlook of the Indian auto industry and its role in the economic growth, Venu Srinivasan, Chairman and Managing Director, TVS Motor Company, and R C Bhargava, Chairman, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., drew attention to the new policies introduced over the past few years. The duo stressed on the high taxation structure on automobiles and the mandatory insurance costs. These, they said, have hugely bumped up the pricing to make vehicles expensive. Srinivasan touched on two-wheelers being taxed at 28 percent despite being the most basic means of transport. This, he added, is almost equal to cars which are a luxury item. Opining that the prices of vehicles have risen over the past few years with the switch to BS IV and subsequently to BS VI, and the change in safety norms, R C Bhargava mentioned that mounting challenges have had an effect on the sales. 
 

Venu Srinivasan.

Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajaj said that the government is open to discussing a change in Goods and Services Tax (GST) rates on automobiles. Seeking to know from the auto industry whether it is the GST rate on cars that is preventing the sector from growing, Bajaj questioned the reason behind SUV sales going up and not that of the cars in economic terms. Stating that the tax rates were higher in some states before GST came into force, he suggested the auto industry to examine in detail the reasons behind the dip in sales. Covid-19 and other factors could be at play, he reasoned. Bajaj called on the industry to keep pace with the changing technology.

Kenichi Ayukawa.

Comments (0)

ADD COMMENT

Link Copied!

Artificial intelligence software developer Helm.ai has launched two foundation models, GenSim-3 and VidGen-3, establishing a native Full HD (1920x1080) resolution standard for generative simulation across a 6-camera, 360-degree surround-view suite.

The architecture delivers 5x the pixel density of industry benchmarks to assist automotive developers facing the limitation where physical collection of edge cases becomes logistically restrictive.

Traditional generative world models typically cap resolution at roughly 0.4 megapixels per camera. Helm.ai’s platform outputs a native 2 megapixels per camera, yielding a synchronised 12-megapixel synthetic canvas per timestep. This specification matches the hardware parameters of production-grade vehicle cameras to reduce the domain gap for SAE Level 2 through Level 4 autonomous vehicle development.

The platform functions as a virtual sensor twin by mathematically replicating physical constraints and hardware anomalies, including lens flares, sensor banding patterns, and exposure blinding. To accommodate different neural network training routines, the pipeline can be configured to a high-speed validation mode using a three-camera setup at 30 frames per second, or a spatial context mode generating a six-camera surround view at 5 frames per second.

Data generation is split into two operational pipelines. GenSim-3 focuses on data augmentation by modifying environmental parameters such as weather, lighting, and object surfaces across real-world video segments at native 2MP resolution. VidGen-3 focuses on data creation, synthesising driving sequences from scratch by simulating environments, agent behaviours, and traffic logic without baseline video to patch geographic data gaps.

Helm.ai achieved the 2MP standard using a cluster of a few hundred GPUs rather than the thousands typically required for sub-HD video generation. This framework reduces the GPU infrastructure footprint for vehicle manufacturers and provides a method for compressing autonomous driving software onto mass-market on-vehicle compute chips.

Vladislav Voroninski, CEO and Founder, Helm.ai, said, "We are moving the industry from standard 'AI video' to authentic, hardware-accurate sensor emulation. By leading with a Full HD (2MP) standard and a 12-megapixel total aggregate capability per timestep, we have solved the resolution bottleneck that has historically limited the utility of generative AI in safety-critical systems. By optimising our compute architecture, we are giving our partners a high-performance platform to validate their autonomous stacks using synthetic data that perfectly matches the fidelity of their actual production sensors."

Comments (0)

ADD COMMENT

Link Copied!

Global automotive technology supplier Marelli has marked the 30th anniversary of its flagship electronics manufacturing plant in Guangzhou. Established in 1996 as Marelli’s inaugural manufacturing investment in China, the facility has transformed from a baseline assembly outpost into a major smart manufacturing and hardware-software validation centre.

Over the past three decades, the facility has expanded from a single operational production line with approximately 100 technicians into a 30,000-square-meter automotive electronics campus.

Today, the facility employs nearly 1,000 people and runs 66 active production lines, manufacturing components for both localised Chinese vehicle programs and global vehicle architectures.

The campus houses an adjacent, fully integrated Engineering Center that holds more than 100 registered patents. The manufacturing framework integrates high-precision assembly lines, automated optical bonding modules and site-wide rooftop solar arrays designed to manage factory energy overheads and lower operational carbon density.

The Guangzhou plant functions as a strategic industrialisation hub focused on low-cost, scalable architectures suited for the industry transition toward connected, software-defined vehicles (SDVs). The facility specialises in several high-growth hardware and display segments like advanced display solutions based on Mini-LED and MicroLED technologies. Additional key platforms include electronic control units (ECUs) for body and seat systems, zone control units, as well as digital cockpits, digital instrument clusters, and 5G telematics systems.

Ravi Tallapragada, President of Marelli’s Electronics business unit, said, “Our Guangzhou plant is a cornerstone of Marelli’s Electronics business in China and a powerful example of how innovation and advanced manufacturing can drive sustainable growth. Over the past 30 years, the team has continuously evolved its capabilities, developing advanced technologies and scalable platforms that address the rapid transformation of the automotive industry, building on long-standing collaboration with customers and partners. I’m proud of our team in Guangzhou and confident that the plant will continue to play a key role in shaping Marelli’s future globally.”

Comments (0)

ADD COMMENT

Link Copied!

Bosch MC Battery Service Innovations, a 50:50 joint venture established by Bosch and Mitsubishi Corporation, has secured its first commercial customer for its ‘Battery-as-a-Service’ (BaaS) solution. The platform has officially gone live with the opening of an automated energy service hub in Chizhou, Anhui Province.

The new logistical hub is owned and operated by Shanghai Lingzhou Technology Co. The site acts as a high-volume transit point configured specifically for heavy-duty electric trucks, allowing operators to either swap out spent battery packs or utilise fast-charging bays within a few minutes. The Chizhou station currently processes more than 100 commercial electric trucks per day.

The commercial roll-out aligns with rapid fleet electrification trends in China, where New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) accounted for nearly 30 percent of all heavy-duty truck sales in 2025. Internal market projections from Bosch indicate that over 50 percent of new truck registrations in the country will be fully electric by 2030.

The joint venture's business model separates the acquisition cost of the vehicle chassis from the battery chemistry, mitigating a core hurdle for corporate logistics fleets: accounting for unpredictable battery degradation and its subsequent impact on total cost of ownership (TCO) and residual vehicle asset valuation.

The operational framework of the joint venture utilises a collaborative technical and commercial division between both partners. As per the understanding, Bosch will provide the core software stack for the platform. Real-time operating metrics – including local ambient temperature profiles, instantaneous current loads and historical charging frequencies – are beamed continuously to cloud servers. The algorithms evaluate the exact state of health (SoH) of individual packs, run predictive wear modelling to catch cell stress anomalies and dynamically manage fast-charging protocols to minimise thermal strain.

On the other hand, Mitsubishi manages localised market deployment, regulatory anchoring and downstream financial underwriting. The data harvested through the tracking platform is being funnelled into integrated aftermarket networks to build commercial products, including predictive hardware maintenance contracts, connected usage-based fleet insurance packages and secondary-life battery storage applications.

Thomas Pauer, President of the Bosch Power Solutions division, said, "With this service, Bosch and Mitsubishi Corporation can create real added value for fleets. Although the state of health can decline due to ageing and many charging cycles, our solution allows fleet operators to keep an eye on the battery condition of their vehicles – a decisive criterion for the everyday suitability and total cost of ownership of a fleet."

Qian Yang, General Manager of the joint venture’s local subsidiary in China, said, "Our service hits a local nerve: We support battery-electric vehicles in the fleet business. This holistic approach accelerates the electrification of fleets and optimises the entire battery lifecycle. The combined expertise of Mitsubishi and Bosch is a perfect match for our customers."

Comments (0)

ADD COMMENT

Link Copied!

L&T Electronic Products & Systems (LTEPS) has formed a strategic partnership with Israeli electric propulsion technology firm EVR Motors to co-develop, manufacture and distribute next-generation electric vehicle traction motors for the Indian market.

The collaboration will focus on industrialising traction motors optimised for regional conditions. The designs are engineered for high operational efficiency, compact physical packaging and a reduced reliance on rare-earth materials. The product line will cater to multiple transport segments, ranging from electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers to passenger cars and heavy commercial vehicles.

The traction motors will be manufactured at the LTEPS production facility in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. When paired with LTEPS's indigenously designed Motor Control Units (MCUs), the combined hardware will provide automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) with a complete, integrated EV powertrain and drivetrain solution.

LTEPS is a business unit of Larsen & Toubro that specialises in the design, engineering and manufacturing of high-reliability electronic systems across the aerospace, defence, industrial and energy sectors.

EVR Motors specialises in proprietary electric motor topologies, utilising a patented Trapezoidal Stator radial flux architecture designed to reduce weight, size and material volume while maximizing power density.

Prashant Jain, Head of L&T Electronic Products & Systems, said, “This partnership reflects our commitment to developing indigenous, high‑performance solutions that support India’s clean mobility ambitions. By combining advanced motor innovation with indigenous motor control unit, we bridge the gap between cutting‑edge technology and real‑world deployment across India’s EV landscape.”

Opher Doron, CEO, EVR Motors, stated, “Our collaboration with LTEPS enables us to scale innovation responsibly – delivering traction motor solutions that are not only technologically superior, but also manufacturable, reliable and tailored for Indian mobility needs.”

Sajal Kishore, Managing Director, EVR India, added, “India’s electric mobility transformation requires system-level powertrain integration and deep localisation. The collaboration between EVR Motors and L&T will enable next-generation electric powertrain solutions across mobility segments.”

Comments (0)

ADD COMMENT

Link Copied!