For ZF, the Indian aftermarket is ripe for the picking

Time of India

4 days ago

Andre Scholle
handles business in some of the world's most conflict-hit regions today which include Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Yemen, Israel and Palestine. Yet, the Vice President & Head of Region India, Turkiye, MEA, CIS at
ZF Group
(Aftermarket Division) does not make such a big deal out of this because the show will have to go on.
'So if there is any political upheaval in some part of my region, we will find ways to overcome it. I think that is a good thing for my aftermarket team in that region. We are very used to dealing with these kind of upheavals and need to find pragmatic solutions,' he told ET Auto during the course of a recent media roundtable.
In this backdrop of volatility and uncertainty, Scholle said he was super excited about India where he maintained that the sky was the limit for ZF's aftermarket business. 'I think the biggest growth will happen in India and if you look back in the last 20 years, India has been neglected especially on the aftermarket score,' he added.
Hence, that is something that 'we need to change very quickly' because it is very clear to the company that the rapid growth of the aftermarket will happen in countries like India. 'Every time I come here, I am astounded how much of infrastructure is added to the system and how much development is happening in such short time with so many vehicles coming into operation,' said Scholle.
My vision is to have India as a hub, not only for India, but also for aftermarket production that is then sold into Africa or into the Middle EastAndre Scholle
India as global hub
It is precisely for this reason that the German auto component maker is upbeat about the growth potential here. 'We all strongly believe that the biggest growth is happening in India, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. My vision is to have India as a hub, not only for India, but also for aftermarket production that is then sold into Africa or into the Middle East,' he elaborated.
ZF has been facing strong headwinds in the aftermarket regions of Europe and North America even while there was a 'very, very strong' tailwind across the Middle East and India in 2024. However, this (tailwind) is now getting 'lesser and lesser' and Scholle predicted a more difficult market environment going forward.
'I would not go as far as mentioning it is moving towards a crisis because I think especially in India, also in Middle Eastern markets as well as Turkey, the demand is still way more healthy than it is in Europe or North America,' he said.
As the second largest aftermarket manufacturer of the world, we are strengthening our footprint here. Andre and his team are making us future ready for the next wave of technologies coming into IndiaAkash Passey
The Indian aftermarket remains a competitive landscape that is developing and 'getting tougher' as well with stakeholders now aware that this is a 'very interesting business' that brings margins. 'So they also want a piece of the cake. This makes the whole aftermarket environment in India in 2025 more challenging than it was in 2024,' said Scholle.
Akash Passey
,
ZF Group India
President, added that it is the aftermarket team which keeps the customer happy and brings them repeatedly back to the company. 'As the second largest aftermarket manufacturer of the world, we are strengthening our footprint here. Andre and his team are making us future ready for the next wave of technologies coming into India,' he elaborated.
I would not go as far as mentioning it is moving towards a crisis because I think especially in India, also in Middle Eastern markets as well as Turkey, the demand is still way more healthy than it is in Europe or North AmericaAndre Scholle
Key centre of gravity
According to Scholle, India is one of the aftermarket centres of gravity for ZF in the future. 'Our key sense we have identified in the aftermarket is that it is maximising uptime mobility. That means we want to provide efficient, reliable and sustainable solutions for our customers,' he said.
From ZF's point of view, the whole landscape in the aftermarket is changing tremendously. 'We cannot focus anymore on purely the demand of our distributors but need to create a pull effect for our products and solutions coming from the retail, workshop or fleet operational levels. This is then optimising the uptime for anybody who is having a vehicle on the road in India,' said Scholle.
The key, therefore, lies in sticking to partnerships with distributors and other allies while expanding the product range to have a 'certain reach and depth' into the Indian aftermarket. 'This is why we are looking into local production of our product portfolio in India. But this will not be enough to be successful in the ever-changing ecosystem which requires new solutions also from us,' he added.
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The other top priority is to strengthen the depth within Tier 2 and Tier 3 customers beyond just 'the main epicentres" of India. 'We are already looking at more than 700 delivery points with approximately 500 direct customers and 18,000 plus retail partners throughout all the four business lines that we have,' said Scholle.
These comprise cars, commercial vehicles, industrial business and digital which are driving 'our opportunity management and our business' going forward. 'We need to talk about more local production and more product launches purely dedicated for the Indian aftermarket.
We are looking into local production of our product portfolio in India. But this will not be enough to be successful in the ever-changing ecosystem which requires new solutions also from usAkash Passey
Player, driver and shaper
ZF would ideally like to become a key player, driver and shaper of the aftermarket in India through products as well as new approaches. 'This is why we are committed to investing in this space and are already talking about 40,000 customer touch points overall,' he explained.
The workshop expansion together with our workshop programmes is very important for the passenger car group. 'If you look at commercial vehicles and industrial solutions, the drivers are a bit different. especially when it comes to the strong OE heritage that we already have in the Indian aftermarket,' said Scholle.
ZF acknowledges that it needs a strong aftermarket team on the ground in India to drive the necessary changes and development which go far beyond pure buying and selling. 'It is much more than that. We need a very, very strong, independent, aftermarket organisation which is creating a link towards the ZF legacy that we already have built up for many, many years,' he added.
This should be accompanied by the entrepreneurial mindset to develop things 'sometimes also in a very startup-driven mindset'. As Passey summed up, 'Today, the technology aspect of the vehicle is much more electrical and electronics than physical and the traditional mechanical. And that is why we see excellent opportunities because our future and our strengths are also around technology.'
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