India is emerging as an engineering base for global components majors such as Tenneco Inc., BorgWarner Inc., and Valeo SE, which are expanding their manufacturing footprint in the country.
Indian engineering teams are increasingly working alongside counterparts in the US and Europe to develop advanced vehicle technologies, including new suspension systems, advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and electric vehicle (EV) components, according to top executives.
The push comes as India finalizes free trade agreements (FTAs) with major economies, including the European Union (EU) and the US, a policy pivot expected to ease technological partnerships. It also coincides with strong domestic momentum, as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and third-largest automobile market sees rising demand fueling sectoral growth.
In the December quarter, passenger vehicle sales surged 21% year-on-year to 1.27 million units, according to data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam). Two-wheelers recorded their highest-ever third-quarter sales of 5.70 million units, growing 17%, as festive demand and goods and services tax cuts boosted demand.
Executives and experts also cited India’s deep talent pool and rising premiumization as key drivers of advanced technology development. They added that greater collaboration between Indian and global teams could help carmakers expand their market share by enabling faster and more efficient local product development.
Rising participation
The share of Indian contribution in the engineering work of global suppliers has rapidly increased over the past two to three years, said Harshvardhan Sharma, group head-automotive technology and innovation at Japanese research and consulting firm Nomura Research Institute.
“In automotive specifically, global tier-1 suppliers have moved from low-20% contributions in India to nearer 30-40% in many programmes today, reflecting deeper ownership of design, software, and system engineering,” he said. “In software-heavy domains like EV controls and ADAS, it can exceed 50%.”
He said it's no longer about cost arbitrage. It’s about capability density. "As vehicles become software-defined and development cycles compress, global suppliers are positioning India not as a support base but as a core innovation engine in their global programmes.”
The talent available in India today can also support global needs, said Chandrasekar Krishnamurthy, global director and head of product management at BorgWarner. "Most of our engineers here, almost 99% of our engineers here today, are supporting global programmes in Europe, in the Asia region as well as in the US,” he told Mint in an interview.
“With that, we have built up the knowledge base, we have built up the skill set and the competence that is required in India,” he added.
Krishnamurthy noted that the company, which makes electric motors, gearsets, battery management systems, among other components, has a wide range of engineering programmes, including systems engineering, software engineering, hardware engineering, mechanical design, testing and validation, working out of India.
"We opened a high-voltage test lab in 2025 to do motor dyno testing system validation here in Bengaluru,” he added.
Tech development
US-based Tenneco, which develops suspension systems and clean air components, has introduced a new advanced suspension system, the DaVinci DCx, engineered by teams in the US, Europe, and India.
“This mechanical suspension called DaVinci DCx is the most affordable high-tech suspension you can get. It's affordable because the delta cost from going from conventional to this DaVinci DCx is only the cost of one dinner at a five-star hotel with two people,” Arvind Chandra, whole-time director and chief executive at Tenneco Clean Air India Ltd, told Mint.
“When you go over regular roads, uneven roads, potholes, sudden potholes filled with water or speed bumps, it immediately tunes itself mechanically to the conditions of the road,” Chandra explained. “This is patented. And it's been developed between US, European, and Indian engineers,” he added, noting that Japanese, Korean and other regional original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are also enquiring about the technology.
French auto component maker Valeo has announced an investment of €200 million in the Indian market, across both manufacturing and innovation, as part of its bid to increase its content share in cars, which are increasingly software-defined.
Moreover, the maker of ADAS sensors and electric powertrain components wants to put India at the centre of its plans. “Elevate 2028 is the name of the strategic plan of Valeo for the next three years. And I've chosen to put India as the very centre of this plan,” Christophe Périllat, group CEO, told reporters in New Delhi on 18 February.
“We have one main development centre, a research and development centre in Chennai with more than 7,000 people, out of which around half are engineers. About 3,300 talented engineers, of whom more than 1,000 are software engineers. So we are very much a software company in India, where all our businesses are represented,” Perillat said.
The shift is part of a broader trend of global automakers using India as an engineering base to exploit the deep tech pool, said Subhabrata Sengupta, partner at Avalon Consulting. “This is leading to more engineering jobs in India, along with a deeper local understanding of how to integrate advanced technologies into vehicles.”