Despite global trade uncertainties, Voss remains optimistic about Tenneco’s resilience, emphasising its strategic position with a global footprint across 35 countries. “India plays a crucial role in our success,” Voss added, with operations supporting both domestic and global needs.
Below are the edited excerpts:
Q: What brings you to India, and how bullish are you on India’s prospects at this juncture?
Voss: I’m here in India at very exciting times. Many things are going on in the auto industry, but for us, India is a key part of our past success, our current success, and certainly our future. What brings me here is to support team Tenneco on the ground in India and to look at the tremendous opportunity we have here.
At Tenneco, we have a very simple but straightforward purpose statement, which is to be the world’s most trusted partner to our OEM partners and customers and, most importantly, to be the best manufacturer, supplier, and distributor of auto parts in the world—not just in India, but around the globe. And we’re very, very excited about that.
Tenneco has been doing business in India since the 1960s. We have 19 manufacturing facilities, six aftermarket distribution centres, three engineering centres, and technology centres, and over 12,000 employees. India has been a huge part of our success, but even more importantly, I think it will be a critical part as we move forward. I’m just here to support the team and to continue to drive our strategic imperatives here in India, but also our intentions to support the globe from India.
Q: Is there a plan to expand your India business, invest more so that it can contribute not just more to domestic customers but globally as well, and export more from India?
Voss: Yes, there is. When I think of the macro strategy for India, I think of India for India and India for the rest of the world. For India, of course, we’ve been here and we continue to invest and move more technologies that are needed for the very specific needs of India. Before we look at India for the rest of the world, we have to make sure we have the right technologies to support India’s growth, which differs from other parts of the world in some respects.
But also, the second prong is, we very much support India’s manufacturing growth for the world from an Indian perspective. And again, we are continuing to invest in our technology, our engineering, and our manufacturing footprint. As the world looks at having a reliable supply chain, with a lot of the products coming from China, now some of our OEM partners are rethinking their strategy, as we are as well. And I think India is incredibly well-positioned. Because of its cost basis, its world-class employees, and world-class technology, I think there’s a lot of promise going forward for India.
Q: The China+1 strategy, which involves moving away from China, gained momentum during Donald Trump’s first term. Could you share how much of your business has shifted from China to India in terms of manufacturing over the last 10 years?
Voss: I’m not going to give out specific numbers, but I think China continues to be a very strong producer of components for auto parts, without question. It’s the world’s largest car market and aftermarket. And as our OEM partners are rethinking their strategy and some of their supply chain structures, we are continuing to look at opportunities to invest in countries like India that offer growing infrastructure and a great cost position as we move forward.
When we think about our longer-range plans over the next five, or ten years and longer, I think India is incredibly well-positioned to grow significantly within the auto industry and among component makers.
Q: I’d also like to ask about the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Canada and Mexico, with Canada implementing retaliatory tariffs and China also taking similar actions. Do you think these tariff wars will impact the auto industry? Are you already seeing any effect on your bottom line?
Voss: We’re not seeing any impact at the moment, but they are just being implemented now. This week, I think tariffs are being imposed on Mexico and Canada by the United States. And, of course, as you mentioned, we’re not just worried about tariffs but also retaliatory tariffs. There’s no doubt that we’ll just have to see how this plays out.
There’s no doubt that in the longer term, the price of vehicles will go up for the consumer if the tariffs stay in place. However, I remain cautiously optimistic.
But from a Tenneco perspective, we’re very, very well-positioned irrespective of tariffs. We have almost 200 plants around the globe in 35 countries. We manufacture in each region. We have manufacturing and technology centres in every region. So, we’re poised for success irrespective of the tariffs.
Q: How do you see the demand in the auto industry globally? I’m talking about demand from OEMs and component makers. How would you describe the demand overall and the sentiment?
Voss: Demand was lower last year, and as we go into this year, that’s no secret to anyone, and we see lower demand in China as well. However, from our perspective, we think there are two prongs in terms of growth. Even as electrification advances in the light vehicle sector—though it’s slower in some areas than others—we still need advanced components for the internal combustion engine.
As emission standards get more stringent, and we want more efficient vehicles, we still have to have technology for the internal combustion engine, which is going to be around for a very, very long time.
Also, as we see growth in electrification, we’re going to have to have powertrain-agnostic components that play a key role, like suspension, ride control, and the like.
So, again, the strength of Tenneco is that we have a very, very complete and dynamic portfolio—not just for EV, not just for internal combustion, but for powertrain-agnostic solutions.
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