India’s Auto Component Industry Goes Global: How Tariffs, Supply Chain Risks and China Are Reshaping Manufacturing
As global automakers move away from dependence on single-country supply chains, Indian component manufacturers are expanding overseas, investing in advanced engineering and moving up the automotive value chain. The transformation could have far-reaching implications for India’s manufacturing ecosystem and industrial real estate.
A New Chapter in India’s Automotive Manufacturing Story
For decades, India's automotive component industry built its global reputation on a powerful combination of competitive manufacturing costs, engineering expertise and dependable production capabilities.
Today, that proposition is evolving.
Indian auto component manufacturers are no longer positioning themselves merely as cost-effective suppliers to global automotive companies. Increasingly, they are becoming multinational manufacturing and engineering partners, capable of designing components in one country and producing them across multiple locations.
The catalyst is a fundamental restructuring of global automotive supply chains.
Trade uncertainty, unpredictable tariffs, geopolitical exposure and the risks associated with concentrated manufacturing networks are encouraging global original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to rethink where and how they source components.
Instead of relying heavily on a single country or production hub, automakers increasingly want suppliers that can offer geographic flexibility without compromising engineering quality, cost competitiveness or delivery reliability.
Indian suppliers are responding by expanding manufacturing footprints internationally, strengthening product development capabilities and diversifying across emerging automotive technologies.
According to a September 2026 report by The Economic Times, this transition is gathering momentum among major Tier-1 suppliers including Suprajit Engineering, Highway Roop Precision Technologies, SPR Auto Technologies and Tenneco.
For India's industrial real estate sector, the implications extend beyond overseas factory expansion.
The transition could reshape the requirements for manufacturing facilities, supplier parks, engineering centres and industrial infrastructure across established automotive clusters, including Pune and Maharashtra.
1. Why Global Automakers Are Moving Beyond Single-Country Manufacturing
The automotive industry has historically relied on globally interconnected supply chains, with manufacturing often concentrated in locations offering economies of scale, established supplier ecosystems and cost advantages.
China has played a particularly important role in this structure.
But the economics of global sourcing are changing.
Tariff volatility can alter the competitiveness of a manufacturing location.
Trade restrictions can affect market access.
Geopolitical uncertainty can create supply disruptions.
And concentrating too much production in one geography can expose automakers to operational risks.
Consequently, global OEMs are increasingly prioritising suppliers capable of supporting multiple manufacturing locations.
The objective is not necessarily to eliminate China from supply chains. It is to reduce excessive dependence on any single geography.
This is an important distinction.
The emerging model is not simply China versus India. It is a globally distributed manufacturing network in which Indian companies can play a much larger role.
A component may be engineered in India, manufactured in Mexico for a North American customer, and supplied from Hungary or Morocco for other international markets.
For the automaker, this provides flexibility.
For the supplier, it creates opportunities to deepen relationships with global customers and participate in a greater share of their international requirements.
2. Suprajit Engineering: A Global Manufacturing Footprint as a Competitive Advantage
Bengaluru-headquartered Suprajit Engineering offers a compelling example of how Indian auto component companies are responding.
The company manufactures control cables as well as mechanical and electronic components.
Its manufacturing network spans five countries:
India
China
Mexico
Hungary
Morocco
This international footprint enables the company to support global OEMs from different manufacturing locations while maintaining continuity in product knowledge and supplier relationships.
Ajit Rai, Chief Strategy Officer at Suprajit Engineering, explained to The Economic Times that global automakers increasingly want suppliers capable of developing products in one location and delivering them from multiple locations.
The advantage is particularly evident when tariffs or trade barriers change.
If manufacturing in one country becomes less competitive, production volumes can potentially be shifted to another facility within the same supplier network.
Suprajit can also transfer manufacturing knowledge gained in China to its facilities in Mexico, Hungary or Morocco.
This reduces the need for automakers to identify, evaluate and qualify entirely new suppliers whenever trade conditions change.
The larger significance
Suprajit's strategy demonstrates how manufacturing flexibility itself is becoming a competitive capability.
The company is not merely exporting components from India.
It is building a geographically diversified manufacturing system that can respond to changing global conditions.
For Indian suppliers, this represents an important shift from being export-oriented manufacturers to becoming global manufacturing partners.
3. India’s Auto Component Exports Could Reach $45 Billion by 2030
The scale of the opportunity becomes clearer when viewed through industry projections.
According to a joint report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), cited by The Economic Times, India's auto component exports are projected to rise from approximately $24 billion in FY2026 to $45 billion by the end of the decade.
Projected auto component exports
$45 billion by 2030
Compared with $24 billion in FY2026
Source: BCG–ACMA forecast cited by The Economic Times. 2030 is a projection, not an achieved figure.
That implies an increase of approximately 87.5% over the FY2026 level.
The same report highlights the gap between India and China in global auto component trade.
India currently accounts for less than 5% of global auto parts trade, compared with approximately 12% for China.
While the difference remains substantial, it also illustrates the headroom available for Indian suppliers to expand their global presence.
Importantly, this growth opportunity is not driven by cost competitiveness alone.
The increasing technological sophistication of Indian-manufactured components is becoming a critical differentiator.
4. Tenneco: Indian Engineering Is Reaching Global Technology Standards
One of the most important developments highlighted in the article is the narrowing technology gap between Indian and European automotive component manufacturing.
Arvind Chandra, CEO of Tenneco, told The Economic Times that components developed and supplied from India have reached technological standards comparable with products sold in Europe.
This development has significant implications.
Historically, global sourcing decisions often involved a trade-off between manufacturing cost and technological sophistication.
Advanced components could require development in established engineering markets, even when production was subsequently moved to lower-cost locations.
That distinction is becoming less pronounced.
As Indian suppliers strengthen their engineering capabilities, they can increasingly participate in the development and manufacture of technologically sophisticated components.
European automakers seeking to diversify sourcing away from China are therefore evaluating Indian suppliers not merely as alternative manufacturing destinations, but as credible engineering and technology partners.
Why this matters
The higher the technological content of a component, the more important capabilities such as precision manufacturing, testing, quality assurance and product development become.
This can strengthen demand for more sophisticated manufacturing infrastructure.
It can also create opportunities for engineering and R&D facilities located close to established production ecosystems.
5. Highway Roop: From Build-to-Print Manufacturing to Proprietary Product Design
Highway Roop Precision Technologies illustrates another critical transformation within India's automotive supply chain.
The company generates approximately 55% of its ₹2,500 crore annual revenue from exports.
That represents roughly ₹1,375 crore in export-linked revenue, based on the reported figures.
But the more consequential development is its changing business model.
Highway Roop is moving beyond traditional build-to-print manufacturing towards proprietary product design and the supply of more complete sub-assemblies.
In a build-to-print model, a supplier manufactures components according to specifications and designs provided by the customer.
In a design-led model, the supplier assumes greater responsibility for engineering, development and product functionality.
This is a meaningful step up the value chain.
Dharmesh Arora, CEO of Highway Roop Precision Technologies, explained that automakers increasingly want Tier-1 suppliers to take on more engineering responsibilities because their internal resources are being stretched across multiple emerging technologies.
Electric vehicles and other new automotive platforms are increasing the complexity of product development.
To respond, Highway Roop has appointed a Chief Technology Officer and is developing a defined product portfolio.
The objective is to evolve from a primarily process-led manufacturing business towards one with greater ownership of product development.
Expansion into aluminium die-casting
Highway Roop is also expanding beyond its established steel forging capabilities into aluminium die-casting.
The move reflects the growing importance of lightweighting in hybrid and electric vehicles.
Vehicle manufacturers are increasingly evaluating material choices to improve efficiency, performance and overall vehicle design.
By developing capabilities in both steel and aluminium, Highway Roop intends to offer customers different engineering solutions depending on their requirements.
This diversification is strategically important because it allows the company to participate across changing vehicle architectures rather than remaining dependent on a single material or manufacturing process.
Industrial real estate implications
The transition from conventional component manufacturing towards integrated engineering and advanced production can change facility requirements.
Precision engineering, aluminium die-casting, testing and product development may require different building specifications, machinery infrastructure, utilities and environmental controls.
Manufacturers expanding into these areas may therefore need specialised industrial facilities rather than conventional factory space alone.
6. SPR Auto Technologies: Diversifying Across Multiple Powertrains
Another example of India's evolving automotive component industry comes from SPR Auto Technologies.
The company is expanding its capabilities across sub-assemblies and multiple automotive powertrain technologies, including:
Hybrid
Hydrogen
CNG
Electric
This diversification is reducing its dependence on traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) components.
According to the company's Managing Director and CEO, Krishnakumar Srinivasan, its legacy ICE business now accounts for less than 35% of revenue.
That is a significant shift for a supplier operating within an industry historically dominated by petrol and diesel vehicles.
SPR Auto is also moving towards supplying more complete assemblies rather than individual components.
Srinivasan highlighted a recent order win to supply complete floor console assemblies, illustrating the company's progress in higher-value, integrated component supply.
The company has also established a substantial domestic operating network, with more than 14 plants across India and eight assembly centres.
Why multi-powertrain capabilities matter
The automotive industry's transition towards cleaner mobility is unlikely to follow a single technological pathway across every vehicle category and geography.
Electric vehicles are gaining traction, but hybrid, CNG, hydrogen and conventional powertrains continue to serve different market requirements.
For component manufacturers, depending too heavily on one technology creates strategic exposure.
Suppliers capable of supporting multiple powertrains can participate in a wider range of vehicle programmes.
For industrial real estate, this can translate into changing requirements for manufacturing space, assembly infrastructure, specialised equipment and supplier networks.
7. The Real Transformation: From Component Suppliers to Engineering Partners
The developments at Suprajit Engineering, Tenneco, Highway Roop and SPR Auto point towards a larger structural change.
India's auto component industry is moving beyond the traditional model of manufacturing parts to customer specifications.
Increasingly, suppliers are expected to participate in the complete product-development process.
That can include concept development, material selection, engineering design, prototyping, testing, validation, manufacturing and assembly.
The shift is being accelerated by the increasing complexity of modern vehicles.
Electrification requires new components and materials.
Hybrid technologies require integration across multiple systems.
Lightweighting creates demand for advanced material engineering.
Electronic systems are becoming increasingly important.
And global OEMs are looking to suppliers to assume more responsibility for engineering and product development.
This is changing the competitive landscape.
A supplier's value is increasingly determined not just by how efficiently it manufactures a component, but by how much engineering capability, flexibility and innovation it contributes to the customer's product.
For India, that creates an opportunity to capture a larger share of the automotive value chain.
8. China+1 Is Evolving Into a Multi-Country Manufacturing Strategy
The China+1 strategy is often described as companies shifting manufacturing away from China towards another country.
But the developments highlighted in the Economic Times report suggest a more sophisticated evolution.
Global automakers increasingly want manufacturing networks capable of responding dynamically to trade conditions and customer requirements.
A supplier with facilities across India, Europe, North Africa and North America can potentially serve different markets from different locations.
That reduces dependence on any single trade route or manufacturing geography.
It also allows engineering knowledge and production processes to be shared across international operations.
The strategic advantage is continuity.
When tariff structures change, production may be redirected.
When customer demand shifts, manufacturing volumes may be rebalanced.
When one region faces disruption, alternative facilities may provide additional resilience.
However, this flexibility is not automatic. Moving production between countries can require customer approvals, tooling changes, capacity availability and regulatory compliance.
Nevertheless, the direction is important.
The future of automotive sourcing may favour suppliers that combine Indian engineering strength with a diversified global manufacturing footprint.
9. What This Means for India's Manufacturing Ecosystem
At first glance, Indian component companies expanding overseas may appear to shift manufacturing investment away from India.
But the longer-term implications are more complex.
An Indian company operating multiple international factories can continue to develop significant engineering, manufacturing and management capabilities within India.
For example, India could serve as a centre for product development, process engineering, tooling, testing and specialised manufacturing while international facilities support regional customer requirements.
This is a potential operating model rather than a confirmed strategy for every company mentioned in the report.
The larger opportunity is for India to become a more important centre of industrial knowledge and engineering capability within global automotive supply chains.
That would represent a meaningful advancement beyond conventional export-led manufacturing.
10. Why Pune and Maharashtra Are Particularly Relevant
For Pune and Maharashtra, these developments deserve attention.
The region already hosts one of India's most established automotive and engineering ecosystems.
Major industrial corridors such as Chakan, Talegaon, Ranjangaon, Bhosari, Sanaswadi, Pirangut and Shirwal support a broad network of automotive manufacturers, component suppliers, engineering companies and industrial service providers.
Pune also benefits from a substantial engineering talent base, technology companies and product-development capabilities.
This combination is relevant to the changes taking place in the auto component industry.
As suppliers move towards advanced engineering, precision manufacturing and integrated assemblies, locations capable of combining manufacturing infrastructure with engineering talent could become increasingly attractive.
The opportunity is not limited to conventional automotive component production.
It could extend across advanced materials, lightweight components, electric mobility systems, testing facilities, automation and engineering R&D.
The Economic Times report does not announce specific new factory investments in Pune arising from these trends. However, the region's existing industrial ecosystem makes the developments particularly relevant to its future manufacturing competitiveness.
11. The Industrial Real Estate Opportunity: More Than Additional Factory Space
The implications for industrial real estate are potentially significant.
The transition towards globally competitive, engineering-led automotive manufacturing could influence several categories of industrial property.
Advanced manufacturing facilities
Higher-value components may require facilities capable of supporting precision equipment, advanced automation, sophisticated quality-control systems and specialised manufacturing processes.
For developers and industrial occupiers, building specifications may become increasingly important.
Built-to-suit industrial developments
As manufacturing requirements become more specialised, conventional ready-built facilities may not always provide the right operational configuration.
Built-to-suit (BTS) developments can allow manufacturers to design facilities around specific production processes, utilities, machinery and future expansion plans.
Engineering and R&D centres
Greater responsibility for product design can create requirements for engineering offices, laboratories, prototyping facilities and testing infrastructure.
These facilities may combine characteristics of commercial office space and industrial real estate.
Supplier parks and integrated manufacturing clusters
As suppliers provide increasingly complete assemblies, proximity between manufacturers, component suppliers and logistics providers may become more valuable.
Well-planned industrial clusters can support efficient material movement, supplier coordination and just-in-time production.
Warehousing and logistics infrastructure
More geographically diversified supply chains can create additional complexity in inventory management, component storage, export logistics and distribution.
This could support demand for modern warehousing, logistics parks and facilities with efficient transport connectivity.
These are potential real estate implications of the industry's restructuring, not announced property transactions or confirmed leasing commitments.
12. Why Infrastructure Readiness Will Become More Important
For advanced automotive component manufacturers, selecting an industrial location involves much more than identifying available land.
Companies must evaluate whether the surrounding infrastructure can support increasingly sophisticated production.
Power availability and reliability remain fundamental.
Water requirements can vary significantly between manufacturing processes.
Heavy engineering and die-casting operations may require specialised utility infrastructure.
Export-oriented facilities need dependable access to highways, ports and logistics networks.
Engineering-intensive operations benefit from proximity to skilled technical talent.
Manufacturers must also consider environmental compliance, building specifications, expansion flexibility and the availability of supporting suppliers.
This is where industrial real estate advisory becomes increasingly strategic.
The objective is not simply to find a factory.
It is to identify a location and facility capable of supporting a company's manufacturing model, technology requirements and long-term growth.
13. The Growing Importance of Manufacturing Flexibility
One of the most interesting lessons from the article is that flexibility is becoming a competitive advantage.
For global automakers, flexibility means having suppliers capable of delivering components from different manufacturing locations.
For Indian suppliers, flexibility means being able to adapt to different customer requirements, materials, technologies and powertrains.
For industrial real estate, flexibility may increasingly mean facilities that can accommodate evolving manufacturing processes.
A company producing conventional mechanical components today may expand into electronic systems, lightweight materials or integrated assemblies tomorrow.
Its space requirements could change accordingly.
Industrial developments that allow efficient expansion, reconfiguration and technological upgrades may therefore become more valuable to occupiers planning for long-term manufacturing transformation.
14. The CRE Consultants Perspective: Industrial Real Estate Must Evolve With Manufacturing
At CRE Consultants, we see the restructuring of global automotive supply chains as an important development for India's industrial real estate sector.
The opportunity is not simply about the number of factories being established.
It is about the changing nature of those factories.
Indian automotive suppliers are strengthening engineering capabilities, expanding internationally, diversifying product portfolios and taking greater responsibility for complete assemblies.
These changes can influence how manufacturing facilities are designed, where they are located and what infrastructure they require.
For manufacturers evaluating expansion, industrial location strategy needs to consider several interconnected factors: access to suppliers, skilled engineering talent, utilities, logistics, production requirements and future scalability.
For industrial developers, the challenge is to create facilities and industrial ecosystems capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated manufacturing operations.
And for established automotive markets such as Pune, the opportunity lies in strengthening the region's position as a destination for advanced manufacturing, engineering and next-generation automotive supply chains.
The central question is evolving from where a manufacturer can produce at the lowest cost to where it can build the most resilient, technologically capable and globally connected operation.
That is a much more sophisticated industrial real estate equation.
15. Looking Ahead: India's Next Automotive Opportunity Is Global
The numbers underline the scale of the opportunity.
India's auto component exports are projected to increase from approximately $24 billion in FY2026 to $45 billion by 2030, according to the BCG–ACMA forecast cited by The Economic Times.
Yet India currently accounts for less than 5% of global auto parts trade, compared with China's approximately 12%.
The potential for expansion is considerable.
But capturing that opportunity will require more than additional production capacity.
It will require advanced engineering, internationally competitive technology, diversified manufacturing networks, product innovation and resilient supply chains.
The strategies adopted by Suprajit Engineering, Tenneco, Highway Roop Precision Technologies and SPR Auto Technologies demonstrate different aspects of that transition.
Suprajit is building geographic flexibility.
Tenneco highlights the technological competitiveness of India-engineered components.
Highway Roop is moving towards proprietary design and advanced materials.
SPR Auto is diversifying across powertrains and expanding into integrated assemblies.
Together, these developments point towards a fundamental repositioning of India's automotive component industry.
India is moving from being a competitive manufacturing destination towards becoming a more influential engineering and manufacturing partner in the global automotive supply chain.
For industrial real estate, this transformation could create opportunities across advanced factories, engineering centres, specialised industrial parks, supplier ecosystems and logistics infrastructure.
And for Pune and Maharashtra, where manufacturing and engineering already intersect at considerable scale, the next chapter could be particularly important.
The future of India's auto component industry will not be defined only by how much it manufactures, but by what it designs, where it produces and how effectively it connects with the world.
Source: The Economic Times, September 17, 2026. Company developments, executive statements and industry projections are drawn from the original report. The industrial real estate analysis and Pune-specific implications are additional CRE Consultants editorial perspectives.
