Polyrub rejigs focus

The JV is putting in place strategies for a leading role in EVs even it wants to bring better and sustainable products for Indian and global ICE players. Brian de Souza has the details

- Brian de Souza

Vijay Sujan, CEO and director, Polyrub CooperStandard (PCS) says the pandemic had many learnings for his company, and that as the world emerges from the scourge of the pandemic, he is putting in place a plan to rejig his company’s priorities, and set it on an even stronger growth path.

Sujan is well aware of the fact that challenges remain but is confident that these can be overcome. Recalling the Covid days, he says that while his company, and the Indian auto sector was in a lockdown, some of his key European customers like BMW were functioning.“We had to manage our export programmes and the customer lines keeping our inventory stocks as per the policy,” he recalls. As Sujan describes it, “We were closed but our customers were open”.

He says he is proud of the fact that the team did a good job even though at the lower levels, team members moved back to the safety of their villages, creating a challenging situation.

However, as a company, PCS had to keep abreast of lockdown regulations even as the challenges kept coming from all sides – container availability and other supply modes. The Pune-based company had to use premium modes of supply which meant a hit to the finances but we ensured that “we kept all our staff, accommodating everyone”.

Set up in 2015 as a JV with US-based Cooper-Standard Automotive, PCS makes fluid transfer solutions (FTS) that control, sense and deliver fluids and vapours for optimal powertrain and HVAC operations. PCS’s customer base includes some of the biggest automotive names such as BMW AG, Fiat Chrysler (now a part of Stellantis) Lander, GM, Tesla, Renault-Nissan, TVS-Motorrad, MG India, and most recently, Volkswagen.

A re-start