‘We have a massive connected population'

Away from the bustle of the Auto Expo 2020, we caught up with Sandeep N, Executive Vice President – Mobility Solutions at Bosch, for a chat about the latest goings-on in the next phase of mobility

- Jim Gorde

Over the last five years, Bosch have focused on connectivity and electrification and a lot of it has borne fruit. What sort of spread do you see and are there any particular areas that have met or even exceeded targets so far?

Over the five years, apart from the focus on the, let’s say, regular legislative impulses coming out for migration from BS-IV to BS-VI. Then we had traction of ABS, ABS in four-wheelers, ESP in four-wheelers, so that’s one part of the traction we have built in the last five years. Mobility is also changing, as you have heard. We don’t look at mobility from the viewpoint of just automotive technology like we have done so far, but look at it more on our experience level as well and that’s where connectivity and personalization come. One part of connectivity, of course, is linked to efficiency. For example, we have ongoing traction built up for telematic devices and for commercial vehicles and there is a lot telematics can contribute to efficiency. We are definitely seeing a lot of traction built up there. Connectivity in two-wheelers, connectivity in passenger cars, also a lot of traction in a lot of projects. You see connectivity in the latest launch, the Nexon. Those are examples where solutions have already hit the road, so I see quite a bit of traction there.

What have been your key areas of focus?

Well, we basically have to get BS VI to hit the road in a way which is kind of all-inclusive, including our OEMs, including our legislative authorities, type approval, homologation, and a seamless introduction of BS VI — that is priority one. We would then see traction of ESP (Electronics Stability Control) in passenger cars. Then the bigger wave coming in next years would be how we get into being a mobility solution provider rather than just an automotive technology provider.