Auto component sector to grow 8-10% in current fiscal: ACMA

Banking on revival of commercial vehicle segment, the auto component industry body ACMA expects the sector to grow by up to 10% in the current fiscal.

The industry, which is expected to touch US $100 billion in turnover by 2020, grew by 11% to Rs 2.34 lakh crore (US $38.5 billion) in the 2014-15 financial year.

"We expect the commercial vehicle segment to grow in the range of 8% this fiscal. With the growth coming back in this vertical we expect auto component industry to grow by 8-10% in current financial year,"

Automotive Component Manufacturers Association (ACMA) President Ramesh Suri told reporters here.

The government has cleared various infrastructural projects which were stuck up for long time, thus paving the way for growth in the commercial vehicle vertical, Suri added.

"The process of infrastructure development has started and due to this, sales of commercial vehicles are expected to pick up," Suri said.

Commercial vehicle segment, which contributes about 20% to the overall turnover of the auto component industry, has been down for quite some time now and has started to witness some revival this fiscal.

Sales of commercial vehicles grew 3.95% to 48,841 units in May.

Elaborating on the performance of the sector in the previous fiscal, Suri said: "Despite a challenging 2013-14, the auto component industry bounced back registering an impressive growth of 11% in 2014-15." In fact, in a period when the country's total exports stagnated, auto component industry exports grew by 11.4%, he added.

The turnover of industry stood at Rs 2.34 lakh crore for the previous fiscal, 11% up from 2.11 lakh crore in 2013-14.

Bullish on growth in the coming years, ACMA Director General Vinnie Mehta said the auto component industry is poised to scale US $100 billion in turnover by 2020.

"During the last fiscal, several macro headwinds obstructed the growth in the industry including flagging vehicle sales, high capital costs , high interest rates and slowing down of investment in manufacturing," he said.

The industry's focus on exports, quality and various cost saving initiatives have helped it weather the weak business environment, thus leading to a double digit growth, Mehta added.

During the last fiscal, exports of auto components grew 11.4% to Rs 68,500 crore from Rs 61,400 crore in 2013-14.

Europe accounted for 36.9% of exports followed by Asia at 25.2% and North America at 23.2%.

Exports to Africa and Latin America increased 12.6% and 4.6%, respectively.