As Chinese companies take up more space at IAA Transportation 2026, Wheels India believes it is time for Indian suppliers to step forward. “India’s time has come,” said Mr. Srivats Ram, Managing Director, Wheels India. “Europe also wants to have an alternate to China and we offer that alternate,” he said.
Wheels India is at the show as part of the TSF Group, alongside sister companies Axles India, Brakes India and Turbo Energy. The company has been coming to the show, directly or indirectly, for more than 20 years. For Mr. Ram, it is a chance to reconnect with existing customers and meet new ones.
Europe matters a great deal to the group. Wheels India has been supplying European customers for more than a decade, and its stand showcases the full range of products it sells there, along with some it hopes to supply in future.
The star of the stand is a 30 kg steel wheel, developed in-house by the company’s R&D team. Mr. Ram described it as a capability showcase rather than a mass-market product. It shows customers that Wheels India can build the advanced products they will need in the future.
The company also displayed a weld-less wheel. Its key advantage is that it needs no welding, but Mr. Ram was frank about its limits. It isn’t cost-effective, and the process restricts the design. Europe’s best-selling wheel design, for example, has the disc right in the centre, which can’t be made this way. Even so, he said, building something world-class on its own manufacturing process shows customers that Wheels India “can be there with the best.”
For Mr. Ram, the show is about more than customers. Indian customers and even competitors come by, making it feel like a community. “We also learn from each other,” he said. The aim is to stay at least as good as the next company.
He was clear about the challenge from China. Chinese companies have both scale and, in areas like batteries, strong technology. He noted that the number of Chinese exhibitors has doubled since the last show two years ago, with several truck makers showing products that look futuristic even beside the rest of the hall. China, he said, is clearly targeting Europe.
India needs to answer that, he believes, with more Indian companies looking towards Europe. The TSF Group and another prominent Indian component maker are both in the hall, but he wants to see many more.
While this show is focused on Europe, Mr. Ram said the US is also a major market for Wheels India. Together, the US and Europe are the company’s key markets for the future.