Technology is influencing the automotive segment like never before. The element of very high levels of semiconductors and silicon is coming into the auto space. The amount of software that is coming in an automobile is something that has never happened in the past. Besides that, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has got into the automotive segment in a big way and is creating a sort of disruption in the automotive segment. These observations were made by Guruprasad Mudlapur, the President of the Bosch Group in India and the Managing Director of Bosch Limited.
Mudlapur was speaking at the sidelines of a special CII session on Karnataka shaping India's Technology and Knowledge-led transformation for Viksit Bharat.
The Bosch official further observed that autonomous driving technology in the automotive segment is also gaining traction very rapidly though not so much in India but very much globally.
“For instance, China has very high levels of autonomous driving introductions. We also see quite a lot of new driving assistance systems gaining traction in the automotive world. Virtually, every new car [now] has a certain element of driver assistance system... and that is how technology is making inroads into the segment,” remarked Mudlapur.
He said that electrification in the automotive is on the rise and is something that will not be prevented or cannot be prevented. This comes in addition to multiple new elements like flex fuels or Hydrogen.
It shows that there is also a push towards a clean energy transition in the automotive space. He added that Bosch India was working on different technologies locally with multiple partners in the startup space or universities in India.
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“New wave of technology introductions in the automotive segment is so high that a single company cannot drive it on a standalone basis. All this requires a combined approach including multiple partners including MSMEs and large companies to startups plus academic institutions.
A whole lot of companies need to partner together to work on different technologies in the automotive space. We at Bosch are working very closely with many of them towards these technology transitions,” said Mudlapur.
He said that, in order to achieve a technology-led transformation towards Viksit Bharat, one must realise that though it is still 22 years away one must continue to invest in technology on a regular basis. According to him, it is a marathon, not a sprint and one must be prepared to invest in technology sustainably and continuously. One also needs to have the energy to do it.
He also remarked that technology innovation will not necessarily have to come from only the biggest companies. It can happen anywhere and MSMEs can play a very key role. They can support the bigger companies and can be themselves be innovation engines as they can do products and services and also play a very vital role in technology innovation.
