De Neers, one of India’s leading manufacturers of professional hand tools and insulated tools, has appointed Mr. Sudhir Malhotra as Strategic Advisor — Automotive and Future Mobility. The appointment reflects the company’s growing focus on the automotive sector, currently one of its fastest-growing verticals, with De Neers targeting strong double-digit growth in the segment over the next two to three years.
Mr. Malhotra brings over three decades of automotive industry experience spanning workshop operations, aftersales, dealer network development, sales, marketing, and business leadership, providing deep insight into OEM requirements, dealer ecosystems, and the evolving needs of the mobility industry.
In his advisory role, he will work with De Neers’ leadership to strengthen OEM and dealer engagement, advise on product and category strategy aligned with evolving vehicle technologies, and support the company’s EV-specific tooling roadmap. He will also help the company anticipate changing workshop and aftersales requirements as the automotive industry transitions towards newer mobility platforms.
As EV and hybrid platforms reshape manufacturing, workshop, and aftersales requirements — particularly around high-voltage systems and electrical safety — De Neers is positioning precision tooling as a critical enabler of safety and reliability across the automotive value chain. The company already manufactures specialised insulated, non-sparking, and anti-magnetic tools for these environments and plans to further strengthen this portfolio as EV penetration grows.
Mr. Neeraj Agarwal, Managing Director, De Neers, said, “As mobility evolves, we want the same rigour applied to how we understand our customers and industry partners. Sudhir’s experience across the automotive ecosystem will sharpen our engagement with OEMs and dealers as we grow our presence in this space.”
“Every major technology transition reinforces one lesson — the ecosystem that supports the technology must evolve alongside it. Quality tools are an essential part of that ecosystem, enabling safety, reliability and service excellence,” Mr. Malhotra added.