Robust growth in Asia maintained
High performance bearings expert GGB has identified commercial vehicles and two-wheelers as its key focus segments for the Asian region that covers the Indian market. While the Indian automotive market has been going through a roller-coaster ride in recent times, the bearings company could boast of a decent performance in 2015, creating new technologies, expanding its customer base and adding value to the existing customers.
Talking to MOTORINDIA on the company’s performance and future focus, Mr. Mathias Senghaas, Managing Director, GGB Asia, said: “We have started shifting focus outside passenger cars, which was our core focus segment, to CVs and two-wheelers. We had a successful 2015 as far as our performance in the Indian market goes, and have some interesting projects in the pipeline. We are very optimistic of maintaining our successful run in 2016 as well.”
GGB has been investing heavily in expanding its presence in the Asian market, particularly in India and China, with its new China plant set up for additional capacity – a move in the right direction. The company’s growing presence in the region enables it to deliver better engineering and service support to customers in nearby markets too. “We have grown in double digit percentage in both India and China in 2015. We are attracting new customers and winning new accounts. We are very optimistic and are parallely establishing our presence in South-East Asia. We are aware of the price pressures in this part of the world, but we do not compromise our policies for the sake of price because we want to maintain our quality levels”, added Mr. Senghaas.
CV focus
Within the commercial vehicle segment, GGB bearings have been well-received, primarily in truck suspensions in the Indian market, while they have also found acceptance in other applications such as transmissions, pedals and brake systems. The company is looking to enhance its presence further by penetrating into segments like king-pins and steering systems in the near future.
As a global front-runner in technology, GGB is actively working on making customers in the Indian market understand the long-term benefits of superior quality. “GGB has always been active globally for CV applications, but customers in India have not yet adopted these technologies completely. We understand that cost is an important reason for this as we’ve had our own experience – it took us several years to make customers switch from other types of bearings to our solutions in Suspension Bearings. We are working very closely with the local manufacturers and are happy with the test results of our products. We have developed the DX10, a new material specifically for kingpin applications, which has been used and tested in the US truck market for around seven years, and now we are bringing it to the Indian market”, he explained.
GGB products have adequate scope in the construction equipment industry which is the company’s third largest segment. He stated: “We are active in Hydraulic pumps & motors and Hydraulic cylinders and are consistently supplying the Indian market for these applications.”
GGB took part in this year’s Auto Expo – Components Show where it received encouraging customer response. Sharing his feedback, Mr. Senghaas said: “We are a regular participant at the show and find it improving with every edition. The quality, the event organization, number of exhibitors, everything is getting better, and we are happy to be part of it.”