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Time of India
30-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
From back office to brain trust: Purpose, patents and profit are becoming the new metrics for GCCs as they mature
Global capability centres (GCCs, the tech & operations arms of MNCs) have helped power India's technology ascent for years now, but the cost-arbitrage model that lured multinationals here is past its sell-by date. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Indian hubs must now behave less like offshore centres or back-offices, and more like intellectual engines that invent, decide, and monetise. That was the consensus among leaders at the Nasscom-Times Techies GCC 2030 And Beyond conference in Bengaluru on Monday. Manu Saale, MD & CEO at Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI), illustrated the stakes with a story that began in 2018, when headquarters asked whether a car could read hand gestures. Bengaluru engineers seized the brief, trained neural networks to run on an edge device, and two years later were on stage at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas flicking the sunroof and stereo on a concept saloon open and shut with nothing but a wave. 'There was one slide that mattered – Where does this magic come from? – and underneath it read 'MBRDI, Bengaluru',' Saale recalled, still delighted that India, not Stuttgart or Palo Alto, cracked the problem first. 'That is how you earn respect at headquarters – and how you keep it,' he said. SAP Labs India MD and Nasscom chair Sindhu Gangadharan offered another concrete case. Eighty percent of the code for SAP's Joule enterprise copilot, she said, is written in Bengaluru, where developers work shoulder-to-shoulder with global customers to refine queries that track inventory, chase leads, or calculate taxes in natural language. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 'We're talking about taking innovations like Joule from India to the world,' she said, pointing out that a quarter of SAP's patents now originate locally. The lesson for newer entrants, she argued, is to nurture end-to-end product thinking – engineers who can design, commercialise and localise software, not merely code it. That demands earlier and deeper partnerships with universities so graduates arrive GCC-ready: steeped in IP law, data-driven design and platform economics as well as algorithms. All of the leaders said the most successful GCCs are the ones that are most tightly integrated with the enterprise; and that's also when the enterprise gets the most value from its GCC. Lalit Ahuja said simplicity is its best ally. The ANSR founder, who helps multinationals set up GCCs in India, recounted a conversation with the chief executive of a leading global company who had trouble wrapping his head around the concept of a GCC. His eureka moment came when Ahuja suggested treating the GCC as 'the 19th floor of your office' – just in another country. The company in question had an office on the 18th floor of a building and were contemplating expanding into the 19th floor. 'Hire people there as you would if you were expanding into a new floor, plug them into the same systems, obsess about the same customers, and watch culture do the rest,' he advised. The executive followed through – and the Bengaluru office is now literally nicknamed 'the 19th floor' inside the company. Ahuja's moral: don't over-engineer the set-up. Indian adaptability means new centres can 'just arrive', usually in as little as three months, borrow the battle scars of incumbents and leapfrog straight to innovation. Sirisha Voruganti, who runs British bank Lloyd's offshore global services, underscored how quickly autonomy for GCCs can deliver. Her team is leading the bank's push into digital identity, an area where Britain lags but India excels thanks to Aadhaar. 'We've invited Nandan Nilekani to brief our board on what a billion-scale ID system looks like,' she said, adding that Lloyd's chose India precisely because local engineers live the mass-authentication challenge daily. How to stay relevant What can the thousands of GCCs already in India, and the hundred or so added each year, do to stay on the front foot? The leaders sketched a few imperatives. ● Pick moon-shot problems that headquarters has not yet solved and deliver them end-to-end. Gesture recognition did more for Mercedes-Benz's perception of India than a decade of incremental tasks. ● Focus on revenue generation, commercialise IP. Filing patents is laudable; licensing them or embedding them in products is what puts India on the revenue map. Joint industry-academia labs and cross-sector forums can help accelerate that path from lab to ledger. Nasscom president Rajesh Nambiar noted that increasingly, GCC success is measured in revenue. Boards no longer ask how many heads a GCC employs but which product lines it owns and what percentage of sales those lines drive, he said. ● Integrate by design. Ahuja's 19th-floor metaphor suggests that cultural alignment and shared metrics matter more than physical proximity. When Indian engineers attend the same sprint reviews and read the same customer dashboards as colleagues abroad, they act – and are judged – as peers, not contractors. ● Cultivate leadership. Saale argued that India's decisive edge will be forged by the people who run the GCCs. 'The leadership factor in the whole game matters most. We need to get our leaders to lead differently, inspire differently and start sharing larger dreams with their teams about how they should see the world from Bengaluru or Pune,' he said. The best results will emerge when companies rotate managers across functions and geographies, reward risk-taking and make GCC stewardship a fast track to the C-suite. Ajay Vij, senior country MD for Accenture in India, said leadership was particularly important in today's volatile times.
Time of India
14-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
RBI rate relief to luxury car buyers but exchange rate concerns remain, says Mercedes-Benz India
KOLKATA: The recent RBI interest rate reduction provided much-needed relief to luxury car buyers. Some of the price hikes that carmakers were forced to implement in recent years were offset by the rate cut, which helped maintain relatively stable EMIs. Speaking to TOI on the occasion of the introduction of the brand's first hyper-personalisation in India on Thursday, Mercedes Benz India (MBI) Managing Director and CEO Santosh Iyer said Mercedes Benz Financial, the company's non-banking financial arm, passed on the benefits from the RBI repo rate cut to customers. This offered relief and helped maintain relatively stable EMIs despite rising vehicle prices. However, luxury carmakers, including MBI, continue to be concerned over the exchange rate. It is this adverse forex situation that forced Mercedes Benz to implement three price hikes this year. "The euro-rupee equation was particularly challenging, moving from Rs 85-88 to nearly Rs 98 to the euro," explained Iyer. The adverse exchange rate impacts both CKD parts, which comprise 91% of the vehicles sold, and CBUs that make up the rest. "Market sentiment remains mixed, with positive indicators including strong capital markets and healthy GDP growth. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Pelajari Undo Tax collections are high, and spending continues, but currency valuation impacts make vehicles more expensive," Iyer explained. The luxury car market has shown resilience, growing by 7-8% in certain segments. Electric vehicles have been a bright spot, with luxury EV penetration increasing from 7% to 11%. "Mercedes Benz has outpaced the luxury electric segment growth, recording a 73% increase compared to the industry's 66%," Iyer noted. The company's top-end segment continued to show strength, particularly with models like the G-Class, EQS SUV, and Maybach EQS SUV. Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI) Managing Director & CEO Manu Saale highlighted the facility's contribution to the company's evolution. "As the largest R&D centre for Mercedes outside Germany, we're integrating Indian expertise into global operations," says Saale. MBRDI played a key role in shaping the India-inspired Collector's Edition of the AMG G 63, which includes etching the owner's name on the grab handle. "MBRDI's current focus centres on two primary areas. The first is digital twin technology, where physical processes are digitised throughout the automotive development chain. This advancement accelerates development timelines whilst reducing costs. The second area involves customer-facing digital features, including infotainment systems, Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), and electric vehicle charging solutions," added Saale. Follow more information on Air India plane crash in Ahmedabad here . Get real-time live updates on rescue operations and check full list of passengers onboard AI 171 .
Hindustan Times
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
Mercedes-AMG G 63 Collector's Edition, a unique, India-specific G-Wagon. Here's 5 things to know about it
The Mercedes G 63 Collector's Edition is available in two colourways, including a Mid Green Magno and Red Magno. Mercedes-Benz has introduced a new chapter in its bespoke luxury offerings with the launch of the Mercedes-AMG G 63 'Collector's Edition' in India. Tailored specifically for Indian buyers, this limited-run model,restricted to just 30 units nationwide, aims to combine performance engineering with locally-influenced personalisation. The edition was jointly developed with Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI), signalling a growing push toward India-specific high-end products. Here's a closer look at five notable aspects that define the uniqueness of this special edition G-Class: 4 Features The G 63 Collector's Edition benefits from Mercedes' latest MBUX NTG7 infotainment architecture, bringing with it more responsive displays, clearer graphics, and new features. The dual 12.3-inch displays offer touchscreen access to the system, which now supports wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Features like Augmented Reality for Navigation add functional value, especially in dense urban traffic, where understanding complex junctions can be challenging. The interface also allows access to vehicle settings, off-road data, and drive mode configurations. Check out Upcoming Cars in India 2024, Best SUVs in India. First Published Date: 13 Jun 2025, 14:00 PM IST
The Hindu
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Mercedes-Benz unveils AMG G 63 ‘Collector's Edition' priced at ₹4.3 crore
Mercedes-Benz has introduced the first-ever India-inspired Mercedes-AMG G 63 'Collector's Edition' of the luxury off-roader at an ex-showroom price of ₹4.3 crore. Only 30 units for AMG G 63 'Collector's Edition' will be available for customers. Deliveries are scheduled from the last quarter of 2025. 'This vehicle underscores the prowess of local innovation and value add addition by the teams at Mercedes-Benz India and Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI),' said Santosh Iyer, Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India. 'This special vehicle not only celebrates the success and the culture-shaping effect of the AMG G 63 in India but also complements the spirit of collaboration and co-creation with our talent at MBRDI,' he said. 'We will continue to offer such rare vehicles listening to our customers' wishes and desires , as our top-end luxury products set new industry trends remaining the most desirable vehicles in the market' he added. 'We are proud to have played a key role in shaping this India-inspired Collector' s Edition of the AMG G 63. With this edition, we aimed to go beyond performance and create a vehicle that resonates with India' s unique identity,' said Manu Saale, Managing Director and CEO, MBRDI. 'Collaborating with Mercedes-Benz India, this is a strong testament of our capabilities in developing market-specific configurations that reflect customer-centricity and regional relevance. We remain committed to introducing more market-relevant solutions with both design and technology inputs,' he added.
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Business Standard
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Business Standard
Mercedes-Benz sees surge in customisation; luxury EV sales up 66%
Mercedes-Benz India, which recently launched a collector's edition of the Mercedes-AMG G63 priced at ₹4.3 crore, says demand for customisation is rising in the top-end vehicle (TEV) segment, as buyers increasingly want their cars to stand out. Some customers are spending an additional ₹60 lakh to ₹1.5 crore on personalisation alone. Santosh Iyer, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Mercedes-Benz India, said this trend is being driven by a small, exclusive community of TEV owners who seek to differentiate their cars within their social circles. Customisation options include bespoke colours, personalised engravings on grab handles, and edition-specific branding. Mercedes also offers personalisation kits priced around ₹10 lakh. The company believes the appetite for customisation is growing — and not just among younger buyers. For models like the G63, nearly 75 per cent of units sold are personalised. For others, such as the Maybach S-Class, the figure is around 60 per cent. Iyer also highlighted the strong performance of luxury electric vehicles (EVs) this year, with industry volumes rising 66 per cent to cross 2,000 units in the first five months of 2025. Mercedes-Benz India's own EV sales grew 73 per cent, with EVs now accounting for 11 per cent of the luxury segment. As for the AMG G63 collector's edition, just 30 units will be offered in India. Bookings opened on Thursday. The special edition was developed in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz Research & Development India (MBRDI). 'At MBRDI, we are proud to have played a key role in shaping this India-inspired collector's edition of the AMG G63. With this edition, we aimed to go beyond performance and create a vehicle that resonates with India's unique identity,' said Manu Saale, MD and CEO, MBRDI.
