Tata Technologies Ltd. sees fresh opportunities as automakers rethink their powertrain strategies, with the company looking to help manufacturers adapt vehicle platforms for internal combustion engines (ICE), hybrids and electric vehicles. "One of the things that the industry made a bet on some five, six years ago was pure BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) platforms," Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Warren Harris said during the company's Q2FY27 earnings call on Oct 14.
"Now with the tapering of EV adoption," Harris said that opportunities are coming up to introduce internal combustion engine (ICE) propulsion systems into platforms that were originally developed for battery electric vehicles.
"That experience is really something that we're capitalising on to provide the industry," Harris said. He added that the company wants to help automakers 'extend the portfolio of propulsion options' available to customers across different markets. He, however, declined to comment on the strategies of specific automakers or regions, but said changing powertrain requirements were creating said opportunities for engineering providers.
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Carmakers Could Outsource More Engineering Work
This fits right into Tata Tech's broader strategy of taking responsibility for more of the vehicle development process, from concept inception to the launch. Harris said original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in China had established these new benchmarks for innovation, development speed and price competitiveness, which then prompted Western automakers to rethink how they engineer and bring products to market.
"We believe OEMs will increasingly focus on what defines their brands while outsourcing more engineering and product development activity," he said.
Tata Technologies is also wanting to position itself as a partner that can take responsibility for complete vehicle programmes, rather than individual engineering assignments. Harris said that the company believed the winners would be those able to "own outcomes" and deliver full products. The company had secured five large deals in the September quarter, including a $138 million programme for two vehicles with a Europe-based luxury automotive manufacturer. The programme, which is beginning to ramp up, will run for around two-and-a-half years.
AI Is Another Part Of The Strategy
Additionally, Tata Technologies is using artificial intelligence to improve engineering productivity and development speed. During the call, the management claimed that nearly 1,000 employees are developing and deploying AI agents across its engineering and business processes.
Tata Technologies reiterated its expectation of strong double-digit consolidated revenue growth for FY27. However, the management did not quantify the potential revenue contribution from hybrid-related engineering work or announce a new contract specifically linked to the opportunity.
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