Subros CV Thermal solutions
In an exclusive interaction with Shraddha Suri Marwah, Managing Director, Subros, and her team, by H. S. Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing, and Ashish Bhatia, Sr. Correspondent, CV magazine, it was revealed that they have developed thermal solutions fo
In an exclusive interaction with Shraddha Suri Marwah, Managing Director, Subros, and her team, by H. S. Billimoria, CEO, Next Gen Publishing, and Ashish Bhatia, Sr. Correspondent, CV magazine, it was revealed that they have developed thermal solutions for CVs.
Established in 1985 as a joint venture company with the Suri Group holding a 40 per cent stake, Denso Corporation and Suzuki Motor Corporation holding a 13 per cent stake each, Subros Ltd., has developed thermal solutions for commercial vehicles. These include air-conditioning compressors, condensors, evaporators, heat exchangers and various other bits that make a HVAC system in an automobile. Finding use in CVs manufactured by Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, SML Isuzu, Force Motors and Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, the thermal solutions the company is providing are eliciting good demand. With the count of professional fleets going up in India, the demand for fully-built CVs with airconditioning system is rising. It is, in the process, triggering a shift from economy CVs to value CVs. With the government mandating the fitting of a blower unit in CVs with a GVW of 3.5-tonnes and above, the Thermal systems market for CVs is opening up in India. With the AC bus and reefer truck market experiencing strong demand – the market for AC bus is estimated to be between 15,000 and 20,0000 units per annum, and for reefer truck is estimated to be 3,000 units, Subros is finding itself in an advantageous position.
Announcing the decision to enter the automotive Thermal market as a risky proposition in 1985, and seemed futuristic and way ahead of its time, Shraddha Suri Marwah, Managing Director, Subros Ltd., averred that in the CV business they are keen to replicate the success they have achieved in the passenger vehicle business. Starting with an initial capacity of 50,000 units per annum in 1985 after obtaining necessary licenses and approvals, Subros entered the
passenger vehicle market where 95 per cent of the vehicles sold were non air-conditioned. Today almost every passenger vehicle that rolls out of the assembly line is fitted with an air-conditioner. In-line the transformation the Indian passenger vehicles have undergone, the company has come to have a 1.5 million units capacity. Commanding a 40 per cent market share of the passenger vehicle HVAC market in India, Subros is confident of making it big in the CV space. Leveraging the experience of building thermal systems for passenger vehicles at one end, and for locomotives (to Indian Railways, Medha Group and Bombardier Transportation) at the other. Keen to get a frontrunner advantage in the Indian CV market, Subros is confident of finding a strong hold in the CV space. Expressed Marwah, “We see the passenger vehicle trend replicating itself in the commercial vehicle space in India.” Mentioning that the mandate to fit a blower unit is creating a strong pull, she stressed that 95 per cent of CVs were not fitted with an airconditioner in 2017.
With the processes in the CV space the same as in the passenger vehicle space, and the product too similar to that in the passenger vehicle space from a thermal engineering point of view, Subros is supplying blower units to CV makers since the third quarter of FY201718. The company is claimed to have secured a 70 per cent market share in this segment. Quipped Marwah that they have a distinct advantage of having an efficient infrastructure at their disposal. “We can quickly and promptly respond to the market requirement,” she said. In the long-term, the company is looking at the CV market contributing 25 per cent of the business. The rest would come from the passenger vehicle business. The current contribution of the CV business is in the region of 10 to 15 per cent. Aware of a large number of players eyeing the AC bus market, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 20 to 25 per cent in the next three to four years, Subros is keen to secure business from State Transport Undertakings (STUs). Most of them are expanding their AC bus fleet. Stating that the preference for AC buses is rising, Marwah mentioned, “The demand may be at a nascent stage today, we expect it to rise significantly.” Bullish about road infrastructure growth creating a demand for AC CVs, Marwah opined that they are looking at an opportunity in both, short-haul and long-haul buses.
Subros is also paying close attention to the off-highway CV segments. Rather than limit itself to trucks and buses, it is keen to carve out a large pie of the growing AC market for construction and earth moving equipment. It is the well-being and safety of such equipment operators that is driving the AC market informed Marwah. She averred, “Awareness for AC cabins is rising, and is being linked to higher return on investments.” Stating that they have a strategy in place to cater to the construction and earth moving equipment market, Marwah expressed that the aspiration for an AC cabin in the agricultural equipment sector is driven by factors like health, comfort and work environment. “Mobile farmer segment is on our radar,” she quipped. Looking at rising mechanisation and the growing need for comfort, Subros is well aware that cooling is a key to the driver’s ability to perform his duties for a longer stretch of time. Banking on rapid globalisation of