Madras Engineering Industries Ltd. (MEI) has been manufacturing a variety of components for the domestic and the global automotive industry for more than five decades. It began turning out manual slack adjusters for air brake systems for light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles in 1982, a move that has enabled it to emerge as the world’s second largest slack adjuster manufacturer.
Mr. Sriram Sivaram, Director, MEI, who now heads the professionally-run family-owned firm, speaks about the company’s business plans, rising global aspirations, upcoming products, and lots more.
Excerpts:Please give us an update on the current market scenario. How is the mood in the industry and how is business at MEI?
Our business is quite dependent on the Indian medium and heavy commercial vehicle market. In my honest opinion, no one currently knows what’s happening in this market. The year 2018-19 was a very mixed one for our industry.
Starting from October 2017 the growth was very aggressive, with the component industry not being able to keep up with the demand of the OEMs. But by June 2018, when the new axle load norm was announced, there were many ups and downs and a lot of uncertainty which still continues.
Ignoring the short term volatility, we have seen a good five years of growth in the industry. Historically, this industry segment has seen a downturn after every growth phase of four to five years. The question this time is when will we see the downturn. The upcoming scrappage norms and the BS-VI transition are significant regulatory issues which can cause the market to behave differently. As for our business in the global market, we have done quite well.
What kind of production capacities do you have at present? Where are your investments directed towards?
The auto component industry in India has usually been hesitant to invest in capacities ahead of the market demand, while the OEMs have generally invested ahead of us. MEI has traditionally invested ahead of the market; we have a track record of being at least six to 12 months ahead of others in the industry.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2019 من MOTORINDIA.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2019 من MOTORINDIA.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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