CII conference moots collaborative approach for automotive R&D

The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Tamil Nadu government held a conference today in Chennai on ‘Automotive R& D Trends – R&D challenges for Sustainability Mobility’. The seminar, among other issues, highlighted the need for a collaborative approach between policy makers, industry and consumers for automotive R&D.

In his welcome address Dr V Sumantran, conference chairman and vice-chairman, Ashok Leyland, articulated the need for better quality of life in cities and to achieve this he stressed upon having green mobility solutions. He said issues like growing urbanisation will decide the new way of mobility in the future. Urban centres will have to be made more efficient for mobility by merging technology and integrating multi-modal transport systems. Dr Sumantran suggested that India learn from Japan which, despite a high density of population, has managed better mass transportation.

Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and MD, Fiat Chrysler India, said sustainable transportation is not limited to cars but needs to integration of infrastructure, pedestrians, cyclists, bus, truck, rail and traffic management.

Kenichiro Yomura, president and MD, Nissan Motor India, said the company is developing new technologies to protect the environment. He said India offers a good opportunity for global manufacturers to set up R&D centres and Nissan is investing in localisation to provide cost benefits to customers in the country.

In his presentation, Friedrich Boecking, regional president - Diesel Systems, Bosch Ltd, India, said rapid urbanisation has given a huge opportunity for the automotive industry in India. He called for efficient government policies to aid exports with local technology for the world. Calling for greater co-operation with universities and research collaboration with industry, he said safety needs to be an important aspect of transport planning with a focus on discipline on roads, understanding safety and technology for safety.

Boecking said expectations in India would be driven by low-cost ownership, fuel efficiency, safety, modern and contemporary design and hassle-free driving. He added that the future of the automotive industry would be the Cloud-based fleet management and Cloud-based automatic driving.

The conference saw participation from 350 senior management personnel from automotive and allied industries from India and overseas.