Over the last three decades, Vector has been supplying tools and services that give engineers the decisive advantage to make challenging and highly complex designs and develop automotive products as simple and manageable as possible. Today, the company is working on various fronts from e-mobility to connectivity, cyber security to ADAS and will continue to work on the new areas which will drive the future of mobility. “Vector is also working on identifying the challenges that a customer could face in the future in the context of these trends and is working as a partner with the customers to overcome these challenges,” said Chandra Nataraja, Managing Director, Vector Informatik India. Nataraja also emphasises the need of ‘real R&D development’ at the local level in India, instead of being followers and adapters.

Q) We are coming across the word “complexity” often in the automotive industry? How does Vector help in simplifying the process in engineering, design, testing, validation and calibration?

Chandra Nataraja: At Vector Informatik, more than 3,000 employees across 31 locations worldwide support manufacturers and suppliers of the automotive industry with a professional platform of tools and software components. Our solutions are used by engineers of automotive OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers and other software organisations undertaking the development of automotive electronics.

There is increased complexity in the automotive space, especially with the software running in cars, for which development teams need to have an overview of their ideas being realised into technologies. There is a lot of toolchain and structure development, not to mention the standards that are being adopted. Vector is a part of several standardisation groups and offers solutions across the complete V cycle of automotive development process, including system engineering, design, testing, validation and calibration, which helps to simplify the processes for the customers.

To elaborate further, the ECU testing tools from Vector support in the implementation of simulation and test environments in an efficient way. Regardless of the task in the development process, the Vector testing tools provide a scalable and re-usable solution from pure SIL simulations to HIL testing with functional acceptance tests – for all types of vehicles including internal combustion engine, a hybrid or a purely electric vehicle. Similarly, for calibration, we provide software and hardware solutions which cover all requirements throughout the entire development process, right from function development through bypassing and rapid prototyping solutions to test bench applications and test drives during trials and in series production.

We also offer solutions to engineers in other application areas such as advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), autonomous driving, connected vehicles and electric vehicles. The company puts together solutions and provides customers with toolchain to develop, test, calibrate and validate software that is being developed for such applications.

Q) What are the current trends in the automotive industry for which the company is developing solutions?

Chandra Nataraja: Vector follows automotive trends closely, with the principle for the company being that it does not develop solutions in isolation, but rather works with customers as partners.

E-mobility is one of the major trends today and for electric mobility to enter mass market, smart charging is a key solution. The term smart charging is used for charging systems of electric or hybrid vehicles according to various standards like ISO 15118, DIN SPEC 70121 and SAE J2847/2. Vector supports developers of on-board charging ECUs in the vehicle, charging stations and induction charging systems with extensive test systems and bespoke ECU software. Using Vector test solution for smart charging, customers can test on-board charging ECUs without having to operate a real charging spot. Vector also offers solutions for testing of charging stations, E-Mobility Measurement and software stack for rapid development of charging ECUs, which supports all international standards including CCS, GB/T and CHAdeMO. This helps customers develop their software quickly and cost effectively.

Another area of focus is connected vehicles, where Vector is looking at extending the domain beyond the car, at the areas where it can offer standardisation. There is a large amount of data collected from the car when talking about connectivity, and the company is looking at cloud solutions in managing this data.

This also brings us to cyber security, where OEMs and applied partners are analysing if there is enough security of information inside the automobile. Vector has developed solutions related to remote updating of software, for which its understanding of the vehicle network is helping us to see how this can be connected with the IT world.

Autonomous Driving is another trend towards which Vector is carrying out development work, in partnership with BASELABS. BASELABS has algorithms related to ADAS for autonomous driving, and with Vector’s calibration product line aligned to it, we have an entire package which supports both the development and validation of ADAS.

Our tool set for testing and calibration has been developed to accommodate future vehicle technologies, and also extend it to multiple networks in the vehicle. Apart from developing innovations based on market trends, Vector is also working on identifying the challenges that a customer could face in the future in the context of these trends and is working as a partner with the customers to overcome these challenges.

Q) With the growing penetration of electronics in vehicles, how do you see the business opportunities for the company?

Chandra Nataraja: Since last 30 years, Vector has been a capable partner in the development of automotive electronics. Satisfied and successful customers are our motivation, and we work to ensure that our customers achieve an increase in value in their work that we can also be proud of. Driven by our passion for technology, we develop solutions which relieve engineers of their demanding tasks and our focus continues to be on providing products to customers for developing embedded systems so that they can develop solutions which will drive the future of mobility.

We see the business opportunities increasing with our existing customers as they look towards future challenges and opportunities. Also, the current trends have brought in new technology players in the automotive ecosystem, and we look forward to working with them as their reliable and technically competent partner.

Q) How do you see the collaborative approach, especially with high-tech companies?

Chandra Nataraja: Presently, we are already collaborating with multiple high-tech companies in Europe and USA. We do see the potential to collaborate with Indian Tier-1s, Tier-2s and service organisations, especially in the EV space. India is poised to develop a unique ecosystem within the electric vehicle segment where all these companies will play a key role, and we look forward to working as partners with everyone who will develop the future of mobility.

We continue to explore synergies with agile companies and our technology, which can be seen in our efforts to foray into areas other than automotive where we can add value as partner to customers and collaborate to develop technology solutions.

Q) What is the role of the Indian entity in Vector’s global business?

Chandra Nataraja: Vector Informatik India Private Limited is a 100 percent subsidiary of Vector Informatik GmbH and is headquartered at Pune with offices in Bengaluru, where more than 100 technical experts and subject matter specialists support the customers in automotive ecosystem with their challenges and provide customised solutions as per their development and testing needs.

We work closely with all global and local customers based in India, those who have technical teams and presence in India – to understand their development needs and provide solutions across application areas. Dedicated support team in India is available to the customers for all technical queries’ resolution, while we also facilitate the training needs of the customer locally. We also have a test services team which supports the customers with their customised project requirements related to test systems.

Q) What significance does AUTOSAR have for Vector?

Chandra Nataraja: We see that AUTOSAR is a standard that is widely adopted across the globe and the automotive market in India has also seen good adaptation towards AUTOSAR.

Vector has many years of experience in AUTOSAR and provides a comprehensive AUTOSAR Classic solution called as MICROSAR. It consists of the MICROSAR RTE (runtime environment) and MICROSAR basic software modules (BSW), which cover all aspects of the AUTOSAR standard and include many useful extensions. MICROSAR is widely used by several OEMs globally, and in India, many customers have MICROSAR stack running in their cars as the Tier-1s have used Vector AUTOSAR solutions.

Exida, the internationally recognised specialist for functional safety, has verified and independently certifies that the AUTOSAR 4 basic software from Vector fulfills the requirements of ISO 26262 up to the ASIL D level – it is called as MICROSAR Safe. MICROSAR Safe is the result of many years of experience in the field of functional safety and it helps customers integrate safety related functions into their ECU and develop AUTOSAR-based applications as per the functional safety standard, ISO 26262.

In 2017, the AUTOSAR development partnership added a new standard to its line-up that is based on POSIX operating systems: the “AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform”. Adaptive MICROSAR is the Vector solution for vehicles with an E/E architecture based on the AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform. It complements the proven MICROSAR with basic software for the AUTOSAR Adaptive Platform, which is optimised for highly automated driving, multimedia applications and networking services.

Thus, we at Vector provide field-proven AUTOSAR solutions which are tuned to the customer needs – offering a comprehensive range of design and development tools, ECU software and services around AUTOSAR. We are committed to support customers going ahead for all requirements around AUTOSAR.

Q) What are the new areas that Vector is now focusing on?

Chandra Nataraja: We continue to work closely as partners with customers to identify the new areas which will drive the future of mobility. We spoke about the current trends earlier and Vector continues its focus around those, including e-mobility, connectivity, cyber security and ADAS.

There is good amount of work going on towards the development of new connectivity-related technologies, as well as in cloud solutions. A lot of research is being undertaken on identifying the appropriate connectivity technologies for vehicle networks.

There are many new start-ups and technology players who are coming up as new trends emerge, across India and globe. Through our subsidiary VVC Vector Venture Capital GmbH, we continue to accompany young companies in their first steps by providing required support in different ways to these new entrants.

Vector Consulting Services is another such effort from our end to add value based on benchmarks, methodology and Vector experience in different toolchains. Through Vector Consulting, we aim to support customers for optimising the engineering and product development.

Q) What are the challenges in the industry?

Chandra Nataraja: Automotive electronics has come a long way and continues to evolve with trends and technologies like connected vehicles and autonomous driving, which we discussed earlier. Thus, one of the main challenges to the automotive ecosystem is to develop vehicles which are as secured as they are connected. The idea is to think more about the abuse cases than the use cases during development, which will ensure that the vehicles on the road continue to be reliable and secured.

On the development side, standardisation at the E/E Architecture level is the need of the hour which will allow for effective implementation of use cases like customisations amongst others.

We must understand that it takes considerable time and thought to bring new technologies to fruition and the process is at times slow. We thus need real R&D development at the local level in India, instead of being followers and adapters – this will allow for faster turnaround times and quicker technology adoption within the Indian automotive industry. (MT)

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Automotive wholesales for May 2025 showcased a dynamic landscape for the Indian automotive industry, with OEMs experiencing distinct sales trajectories. From significant growth in the two-wheeler segment to some PV makers facing headwinds, the month provided an indicative picture of shifting consumer preferences and market conditions.

Hero MotoCorp, the world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, dispatched 507,701 motorcycles and scooters in May 2025, showing both sequential and annual growth. The company maintained strong market momentum with 500,000 VAHAN registrations.

Hero MotoCorp's global retail performance also showed robust momentum, particularly in Bangladesh and Colombia, with exports maintaining a steady trajectory. The electric vehicle brand, VIDA, powered by Hero MotoCorp, delivered growth with dispatches of 8,361 units and 7,161 VAHAN registrations for the VIDA V2 electric scooter range, achieving a 7.2 percent VAHAN market share.

Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India (HMSI) recorded total sales of 465,115 units in May 2025. Domestic sales for HMSI stood at 417,256 units. The company's exports contributed 47,859 units to the total sales figure.

TVS Motor Company demonstrated impressive overall sales growth in May 2025, increasing by 17 percent to 431,275 units from 369,914 units in May 2024. Domestic two-wheeler sales registered growth of 14 percent, increasing from 271,140 units in May 2024 to 309,287 units in May 2025. Motorcycle sales saw a 22 percent increase to 211,505 units, scooter sales grew by 15 percent to 166,749 units and electric vehicle sales surged by 50 percent to 27,976 units. The company's international business (exports) also saw growth of 22 percent.

Royal Enfield experienced a significant surge in May 2025, posting monthly sales of 89,429 motorcycles, marking a robust 26 percent increase compared to the same month last year. The company's domestic sales contributed significantly to this performance. A key driver for this growth was the outstanding performance in exports, which soared by 82 percent to 13,609 motorcycles, up from 7,479 units in May 2024.

Maruti Suzuki India, the country’s largest passenger vehicle maker, reported total sales of 180,077 units in May 2025, demonstrating a 3.17 percent growth compared to 174,551 units sold in May 2024. Domestic sales, including Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV), stood at 138,690 units, experiencing a 5.46 percent decline from 146,694 units in May 2024. Sales to other OEMs also saw a marginal dip of 3.07 percent, reaching 10,168 units in May 2025. Conversely, exports surged by 79.76 percent YoY, totalling 31,219 units in May 2025 compared to 17,367 units in May 2024. Within passenger vehicles, while the Mini and Compact segment saw a decrease in sales, the Utility Vehicles segment demonstrated slight growth.

Tata Motors presented a contrasting picture, with total sales in the domestic and international markets for May 2025 standing at 70,187 units, a decline from 76,766 units in May 2024. Domestic sales for Tata Motors were 67,429 units, with Commercial Vehicle (CV) domestic sales at 25,872 units (a 9 percent year-on-year decrease) and Passenger Vehicle (PV) sales at 42,040 units (an 11 percent decline). In terms of international business for commercial vehicles (CV IB), Tata Motors saw a significant increase of 87 percent to 2,275 units.

Hyundai Motor India (HMIL) reported total monthly sales of 58,701 units in May 2025. Domestic sales for HMIL were 43,861 units. The company noted that the availability of some critical models was impacted due to a scheduled biannual plant maintenance shutdown during the month. Export sales for HMIL reached 14,840 units.

Mahindra & Mahindra, the SUV specialist, reported robust sales performance in May 2025, with overall auto sales reaching 84,110 vehicles, marking a significant 17 percent YoY growth. This was largely driven by the Utility Vehicles (UV) segment, which saw domestic sales rise by 21 percent to 52,431 units, contributing to a total of 54,819 UVs sold including exports. The commercial vehicles segment also performed well domestically, recording 21,392 units. Exports saw exceptional growth, surging by 37 percent to 3,652 units in May 2025.

Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) continued its positive sales momentum in May 2025, reporting a total of 30,864 units sold, a 22 percent growth over May 2024. Domestic sales played a crucial role, reaching 29,280 units. The company also contributed to exports with 1,584 units.

Kia India maintained its strong growth trajectory for the fifth consecutive month in May 2025, dispatching 22,315 vehicles in the domestic market. This performance reflects a healthy 14.43 percent year-on-year growth when compared to the 19,500 units sold in May 2024.

Ashok Leyland saw a 5 percent increase in its total domestic vehicle sales in May 2025, reaching 14,534 units, up from 13,852 units in May 2024. This growth was primarily driven by its Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (M&HCV) segment, with M&HCV Trucks increasing by 12 percent to 7,466 units and M&HCV Buses growing by 1 percent to 1,920 units. Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) domestic sales experienced a slight decrease of 3 percent to 5,148 units.

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Reporting a revenue of over INR 500 billion for the first time, up 12 percent year-on-year, on the basis of automobiles are spares in FY25, Bajaj Auto Ltd has revealed that volumes rose seven percent YoY during the respective period with a strong performance in the first half and a relatively soft performance in the second half.

Observing a solid rebound (double digit volume and revenue growth) in exports, the Pune-based company earned an all-time high EBITDA of INR 101 billion, up 14 percent YoY. PAT also hit a new record at over INR 80 billion. With a revenue of around INR 55 billion from electric vehicles (20 percent of its domestic), the company, with a full PLI certified portfolio, underlined its organisation agility and adaptability with significantly improved unit economics in a journey spanning over the last three years.

With the refreshed Duke 200/250 and the new Adventure 390, the KTM portfolio of Bajaj Auto experienced strong momentum in FY25. Also the Triumph motorcycle portfolio with sales up 60 percent YoY. The KTM and Triumph motorcycles sold one lakh units domestically

The commercial vehicles portfolio of the company comprising mainly of three-wheelers saw a revenue increase of over INR 100 billion. It combined the tradition ICE vehicle business and the newly developed electric vehicle business. The launch of GoGo electric three-wheeler and a wide network of over 850 dealerships helped to increase the momentum.

Image for representative purpose only. 

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Disruptive events such as the Red Sea crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war have caused a need to have a closer look at the role of Chief Financial Officers (CFOs). A renewed approach demands that CFOs act as a change catalyst within the automotive supply chain to tackle future hurdles. To ensure stability in the Indian automotive industry filled with technological advancements, especially in alternative energy vehicles, CFOs are acting as co-pilots of transformation in the Indian automotive supply chain, opined Former Additional Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Government of India, Anand Swarup, during the ACMA CFO and Supply Chain Conference on 28 May 2025, in New Delhi.

The event brought to the forefront discussions on how the role of CFO’s has been changing over the year and saw participation from speakers from different organisations, including Maruti Suzuki India CFO Arnab Roy, among others. 

The speakers highlighted the evolution of customer demands, market dynamics and innovation due to the volatile business environment. Speaking at the event, Partner and National Auto Tax Leader at EY India, Saurabh Agarwal, said, “The CFO no longer works as an accountant, but dons multiple hats such as a risk manager and a strategic partner for resilience.”

“The leader must focus on execution and being agile in a dynamic environment to build strong relationships with other departments and ensure faster time to market. Staying agile will help an OEM to better handle changing customer demands and be able to introduce new features and variants faster,” he added.

Enumerating how flexibility helps the CFO devise strategies for optimising auto production, managing risks and adapting to supply chain disruptions, Roy said, “Real-time decisions must be made in today’s volatile world. As a result, the CFO’s role is now expanding to cover a gamut of subjects such as sustainability, location strategy and choice of appliances. Since we are within a multi-dimensional environment at present, the CFO’s role is moving from a cost controller to a continuity architect.”

Further describing the changing role of a CFO in a volatile uncertain complex and ambiguous world, it was discussed that CFOs must act as change catalyst in the automotive supply chain. While enumerating the above, Anant Swarup said, “The CFOs are not naysayers and their image of being cost-cutting agents is gradually changing. They are supply chain whisperers and co-pilots of transformation. Data-driven risk modelling helps them make accurate future decisions and turns them into participative entities.”

The current world scenario mandates a CFO’s financial expertise to assess vendor performance, identify cost-saving opportunities and process improvements, analyse costs and mitigate supply chain risks. Alluding to the same, Roy explained, “The CFO can build a resilient supply chain through cash visibility and crisis foresight. Relocation with risk-adjusted precision is necessary as it helps prepare risk-adjusted return-on-investments models for various situations. The CFO must also build redundancies and incorporate inventory industrial planning into the company’s business plan. As the world de-globalises due to geo-political scenarios, auto manufacturers are being forced to reassess their supply chains.”    

“Seventy-five percent of automotive revenue is attributable to raw materials. Supply chain management provides a competitive edge. Yet another role for the CFO would be to optimise capital for crisis situations that may include geopolitical shifts,” Roy added.  Speaker Sunil Bohra, CFO, Uno Minda Group, while describing how CFO’s act as change catalyst in automotive supply chain, said, “Every automotive plant in India produces roughly 14,000 parts.” He explained that supply chain management must account for cost control and operational efficiency, leading to effective allocation of resources, high profitability and less waste. It is the supply chain-CFO partnership that decides the future of automotive companies and manufacturers.

Though geo-political scenarios are predominantly uncertain, CFO’s have the arsenal to make calculated decisions for mitigating risks. EY India Partner, Tax, Pankaj Jain, explained, “When changes happen at the geo-political level, we must take some calls. For example, one such concept could be focusing on developing tier II and tier III vendors in India.”

The speakers also discussed on how discipline and immense hard work during the entire shift has helped China reach where it is in the auto manufacturing sector. Highlighting the Indian scenario vis-a-vis China, President- Finance and Strategy at Minda Corporation, Ajay Agrawal, said, “India must stop trying to beat China in the manufacturing industry right now since we have only been in the supply chain business for 2-3 years. The best way forward is for us to partner with China.”  

A smart supply chain-CFO partnership is possible through digitalisation. The CFO's role today has undergone a paradigm shift, making him a partner of strategic convergence across the supply chain, finance and digitalisation as the partnership is no longer just an operational topic.

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Gurgaon-headquartered BMW India Financial Services, the subsidiary of the BMW Group, which focusses on retail finance, commercial finance and insurance solutions, has appointed Andreas Modlmayer as the new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer.

He succeeds Jaejoon Lee, who successfully led the company as a leading end-to-end automotive financial solution for the BMW brand in the country.

Modlmayer has been associated with the BMW Group since 2000 and was the CEO of BMW Austria Bank in Greece. He has extensive leadership experience for BMW Group Financial Services and has worked across geographies such as New Zealand, China and Hong Kong. He started his career with BMW Bank Munich in Sales and Marketing function.

Lisa Ng, Regional Chief Executive Officer of BMW Group Financial Services for Asia Pacific, said, “Andreas Modlmayer brings with him valuable expertise and leadership acumen, with successful development of BMW Financial Services in diverse markets for over two decades. India is an important market for us, and we are confident that he will further add to the company’s growth as he takes charge of BMW India Financial Services.”

“We thank Jaejoon Lee for his immense contribution to BMW India Financial Services in the recent years. He successfully steered the company with new initiatives in product offerings and customer centricity and strengthened the foundation for future growth. We wish him all the best as he returns to BMW Korea once again,” added Ng.

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