Global sunroof companies look to ride the giant India wave
car sunroofs is pushing the world’s leading makers of the feature to join local partners in ramping up investments to tap this burgeoning market. Netherlands-based Inalfa Roof Systems along with its partner Gabriel India is looking to double capacity for manufacturing sunroofs in the next one year. The duo, which opened their first plant in Chennai in the first quarter of 2024, can currently produce up to 200,000 sunroofs annually.
Germany’s Webasto—a global leader in openable sunroofs—has started work to nearly double production capacity in the Indian market to 950,000 units per year by 2027, from the current 500,000 units.
Auto parts maker Uno Minda inked a technical licence agreement this August with Japan’s Aisin Corp., among the world’s top 10 Tier I component suppliers, to locally manufacture and sell vehicle sunroofs. “The Indian automotive market is witnessing a remarkable shift, with sunroofs rapidly becoming a sought-after feature,” said NK Minda, chairman and managing director, Uno Minda. “Sunroofs have seen multifold growth in recent years. This trend is only set to accelerate as sunroofs, once limited to larger SUVs and MUVs, are now increasingly finding their way into hatchbacks.”
The feature falls in the category of those that seem to be in high demand but are seldom used, such as cruise control, heads-up displays and advanced driver assistance systems, which means manufacturers are forced to offer them despite being of dubious utility in Indian conditions.
The sustained interest in sunroofs,
