Two major car lighting giants

Against the background that the macroeconomic environment remains unstable, the transformation of the automobile industry continues to deepen, and the trend of localization of supply chains continues to become more prominent. Recently, global leading auto parts manufacturers Valeo and Magneti Marelli have successively announced new trends in the Indian market, unanimously increasing investment in the region's auto parts market.

Marelli's joint venture opens new automotive lighting factory in India, focusing on exterior lighting

On February 23, Italy's Marelli and its joint venture partner India's Motherson jointly announced the opening of a new automotive lighting factory in Sanand, Gujarat, India. The new factory is the second factory in Sanand of Marelli Motherson Lighting India, a joint venture between the two parties, and its eighth factory in India.

Frank Huber, President of Magneti Marelli Lighting Business, pointed out that the establishment of this factory marks that MMLI is introducing advanced lighting technology to Indian customers. By combining Magneti Marelli's global innovative technology with Motherson's strong local production and manufacturing capabilities, it will provide high-end exterior lighting solutions for India's rapidly growing passenger car market.

In addition, the factory has incorporated sustainable development concepts into its construction, with solar power generation equipment installed on the roof and plans to obtain more green energy through open access channels. With the commissioning of the new factory, Marelli's territory in India has expanded to 16 production bases and 3 R&D centers, employing more than 4,500 people, further consolidating its position as one of the largest automotive lighting suppliers in India.

Valeo announces investment plan of over 200 million euros in India, with revenue expected to triple

Before Magneti Marelli announced the location of the joint venture, French auto parts giant Valeo reiterated its ambitions for the Indian market at the "2026 New Delhi AI Impact Summit". As a core component of its global "Elevate 2028" strategic plan, Valeo announced that it will invest more than 200 million euros in the Indian market in the next few years, which is expected to drive the goal of doubling revenue in 2028.

Valeo CEO Christophe Périllat said that India is an important pillar of its global growth and innovation roadmap. The investment is aimed at significantly expanding Valeo's industrial footprint and engineering capabilities in India. According to the plan, Valeo's sales in India are expected to grow to approximately 700 million euros by 2028, achieving the goal of doubling revenue and laying the foundation for sustained high growth after 2028.

Currently, Valeo is deeply involved in India’s electrification process. The company has put into production a new e-axle electric drive shaft production line at its Pune factory, providing the core power system for the "Born Electric" pure electric platform of local Indian giant Mahindra. Valeo believes that as India moves towards a global next-generation automotive technology center, localized production and R&D will be the key to winning the market.

The trend of localization of the automotive supply chain is highlighted, which is expected to increase the penetration rate of automotive LEDs

Valeo and Magneti Marelli’s additional investments in India jointly reflect the industry commonality of the deep “localization” of the global automotive supply chain and the Indian market’s pursuit of automotive safety, aesthetics and technology.

In Magneti Marelli’s new factory, a number of high-end lighting technologies “first in India” are localized. According to him, the main products of the new factory include: 2-meter-long integrated through-taillights and headlights, which can provide extremely high light uniformity; in addition, the new factory also realizes the localized production of the world's extremely narrow headlight modules that are only 17mm high.

It is reported that Magneti Marelli announced in the Chinese market in November last year that its full-function one-piece through-headlights integrating touch technology have been mass-produced on the Changan Qiyuan A06 model. This system integrates high and low beam lights, turn signals, daytime running lights and brand LOGO lights into a nearly 2-meter light body to achieve full functional integration.

It is worth noting that the advanced technology of Magneti Marelli’s new factory currently relies heavily on high-power, high-reliability automotive LED light sources, which can help customers achieve functions such as adaptive high beam, high beam enhancement, and ambient lighting. This reflects the growth in demand for automotive LEDs.

In addition, in order to achieve mass production of complex lighting products, Magneti Marelli has made significant upgrades to its factory infrastructure. The factory is equipped with high-tonnage multi-color injection molding machines of 2,000 tons to 2,700 tons, which is a rigid requirement for the production of large single-piece optical components. In addition, the factory structure has been specially designed to support the replacement and operation of heavy-duty molds, and a dedicated bridge crane system, a first in the Indian lighting industry, has been introduced. These also reflect the high-end trend of the Indian passenger car market.

Valeo’s investment this time focuses on the combination of electrification and intelligence. Its investment in India is concentrated in two key areas called power and brain, which is highly in line with the trend of electrification and intelligence in the global automotive industry. As far as automotive lighting is concerned, Valeo has strengthened its R&D layout in India, which is expected to promote the combination of lighting systems and ADAS sensing technology to enhance the intelligent recognition of vehicles.

It is reported that Valeo is positioned as a global intelligent lighting solution provider in the field of automotive lighting, and is deeply integrating lighting, display, communication and autonomous driving sensor technologies to consolidate its leading position in the global visual system market.

In summary, the two giants "located" in India, on the one hand, to meet the automakers' urgent need for supply chain localization, and on the other hand, to carry out technological innovation close to the consumer market. In addition to reducing manufacturing costs, the positive impact of this move will also help Marelli and Valeo seize the business opportunities of the Indian automobile market from an assembly hub to a global technology fulcrum, and further expand their market share.

From the perspective of the automotive lighting industry, with the mass production of through-type light strips, extremely narrow headlights and ADB adaptive lighting systems in India, the penetration rate of automotive LEDs is expected to increase simultaneously.

From the perspective of industry development trends, cross-border integration of technology is inevitable. At present, the boundaries between lighting, thermal management, ADAS sensing and data center technologies are blurring, which means that suppliers with comprehensive technical capabilities will gain a greater say in the global auto parts market, including the Indian market.