Latest news with #ManuSaale
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
17-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
'75% G-Wagons sold in India are personalised': Santosh Iyer explains Mercedes' 'hyper-custom' strategy
Mercedes' R&D head Manu Saale and India head Santosh Iyer with the G63 Collector's Edition. Based on an interaction with Arpit Mahendra. Mercedes-Benz India is focusing on hyper-personalisation as part of its strategy, as seen in the recently launched AMG G63 Collector's Edition. We spoke with Santosh Iyer, Managing Director & CEO of Mercedes-Benz India, and Manu Saale, Managing Director & CEO of Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India (MBRDI), about how customer preferences are changing, the engineering work that goes into these special editions, and how the brand is growing in the electric vehicle space in India. Hyper-Personalisation is more than just a buzzword Mercedes-Benz is betting big on personalisation, both in the physical and digital departments. 'The G63 AMG is the largest selling engine in our portfolio, and 75% of the Gs we sell in India are personalized,' said Santosh Iyer. Taking this a step further, the G63 Grand Edition allows customers to engrave their names (or even those of family members) on the car's grab handle. This is the first time the company has offered such customisation in India. But the idea of hyper-personalisation doesn't end with physical modifications. As Manu Saale explained, 'The word hyper-personalisation also has a digital spin… all the Mercedes cars, with the MB OS architecture, allow you to personalise so many things in the car, just like a consumer electronic device would - except it's done the Mercedes way.' by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Giao dịch CFD với công nghệ và tốc độ tốt hơn IC Markets Đăng ký Undo India-specific design, engineering behind collector's edition The G63 Collector's Edition offers a host of India-specific customized upgrades over the model, including two new colour options. Speaking on how the specific changes were planned and executed, Saale explained 'The brief to the engineering teams was: within a given timeframe, what inspiration can we draw from around us?' 'One of the first ideas was the onset of the monsoon season. The Manufacturer Green and Manufacturer Red colours were inspired by the lush greenery and the colour of Indian soil.' Behind the execution lies Indian R&D. 'The engineering was done out of Pune and Mangalore,' Saale noted, pointing out the collaborative effort of their design and R&D teams in India. On the capability front, Saale spoke about a key update: 'For the first time, we have introduced launch control in the G63 AMG with this edition. It's an addition to the collector's edition, and going forward we may bring more such performance features in future editions.' Demand for customisation highest in G-Class, Maybach models While the brand's ultra-luxury customers continue to demand unique customer-specific touches, some models lead the way. 'The G63 AMG sees the highest level of customisation: over 75% of them are personalised. The S-Class Maybach is around 50%, followed by the GLS Maybach,' said Iyer. However, this level of customisation is largely limited to fully imported (CBU) models like the G-Class and Maybach range. 'For the rest of the lineup, these cars are built to stock. At the top end, customers are willing to pay and wait six to nine months. But as you go lower down the pyramid, customers want quick delivery, and so there is less scope for customisation,' Iyer explained. Mercedes-Benz G 580 Review: Is Electric G-Wagen still iconic? | TOI Auto While the G63 Collector's Edition is a visual and aesthetic upgrade, both Iyer and Saale made it clear that the future could include more technical upgrades. 'MBRDI today is the largest R&D centre for Mercedes outside of Germany,' said Saale. 'There's a bit of India in every Mercedes. It's just up to our imagination what we can do.' With just 30 units planned for India, the Grand Edition isn't for everyone. 'It's not exactly invite-only,' Iyer clarified, 'but customers must own another top-end Mercedes. It's on a first-come, first-served basis, and delivery begins later this year. Once a customer books, we initiate consultations for engraving, font selections, and other customisation details.' G-Class EV reception strong, EV sales soaring Speaking on electrification, Iyer said the company's EV push is seeing strong traction in India. 'The luxury EV segment grew 66% (Jan–May, YoY), and we grew 73%. EV penetration in the luxury segment has gone up from 7% to 11%,' he revealed. While the EQS and EQS SUV are current volume drivers, Iyer also highlighted the success of the G-Class EV. 'India is one of the best-performing markets for it globally,' he said, adding that strong incentives and better price parity between ICE and EVs are helping push sales.
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.
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Mercedes-Benz India redefines luxury with hyper-personalisation & India-specific innovations
Mercedes-Benz India is betting on hyper-personalisation and electrification, with a focus on Indian technology, to enhance its appeal and drive growth in the country's burgeoning luxury car market , the company's top official said. The Germany-based luxury carmaker is offering a hyper-personalisation programme--the Manufacturer Program , including ' Manufaktur '--which allows buyers to customise their vehicles as per their preferences. 'Under this programme, 75 per cent of the customers who buy a car personalise it through the Manufacturer Program, for which they are willing to pay between ₹60 lakh to ₹1.5 crore,' Santosh Iyer , Managing Director and CEO, Mercedes-Benz India, told ETAuto . India's growing affluent customer base is giving rise to the trend of bespoke luxury vehicles. Beyond physical personalisation, digital features such as 'Routines'—an AI-driven car element based on customer habits—are reinforcing this shift. Following the same philosophy, the luxury carmaker today launched the Mercedes-AMG G 63 'Collector's Edition' at ₹4.3 crore. Only 30 units of the limited edition will be available exclusively to existing customers. Staying ahead with Indian technology This launch also marks the first Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India's (MBRDI)contribution to the Mercedes Benz limited edition model, underscoring the company's growing focus on local product development. MBRDI, headquartered in Bengaluru, is at the forefront of integrating advanced technologies such as AI and Gen AI in car manufacturing--from chip-to-cloud operating systems to customer-facing features. 'From the technical involvement across all aspects of engineering, we believe there's hardly any area of research untouched by Indian engineers today,' said Manu Saale, MD and CEO, MBRDI. With its growing engineering capabilities, India is playing a critical role in global automotive innovation that is expected to impact next-generation vehicles worldwide. Aligning with EVs With thegrowing adoption of electric vehicles in the country, the carmaker has kept pace with the trend. Mercedes-Benz India has reported a 73 per cent growth in luxury EV sales from January to May, outpacing the overall industry growth, said Iyer. This EV momentum is driven by top-end models such as the EQS SUV, EQE, and EQS Maybach. Currently, the company does not compete in the entry-level EV segment. 'The brand aims to maintain the DNA of performance (AMG) while offering the benefits of electrification (EQ), showcasing features like the 'G-Turn' in the electric G-Class,' the management added. On the growth front, the German manufacturer expects to report flat to single-digit growth in 2025, in line with earlier projections. This outlook is influenced by factors such as exchange rates, geopolitical concerns, and more.
India Today
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- India Today
Mercedes-AMG G63 India-inspired Collectors' edition to launch on June 12
The Mercedes-AMG G 63 will be available in a new India-inspired collectors edition, the launch of which is slated for June 12. This version of the SUV intends to celebrate the 'cult status' that it has gained in the country. Read along to know the details of the first India-specific G says that India's love for the G-Class has been well-storied, and the 'Collector's Edition' is a tribute to the rich Indian tapestry and landscape. It is configured and presented by both Mercedes-Benz India and Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India. The AMG 63 Collectors' edition is likely to get special exterior and interior trims. advertisementWhile the firm has not revealed any details yet, we expect the model to get customised upholstery options in the cabin paired with special exterior trims, which might be themed after Indian culture. The SUV will not get any changes on the mechanical front as we expect it to be powered by the same 4.0-litre, twin-turbo V8 engine with 48V mild-hybrid tech found in the standard G 63. This mill churns out 585bhp and 850Nm, while the mild-hybrid system gives an additional boost of 22bhp. Paired to this engine is a 9-speed DCT automatic gearbox with paddle shifters and the 4Matic system that delivers power to all four wheels. Santosh Iyer, MD & CEO, Mercedes-Benz India and Manu Saale, MD & CEO, MBRDI will announce the launch of the AMG G 63 'Collector's Edition' on 12 June 2025 through a virtual press to Auto Today Magazine
