As India rapidly transforms into one of the world’s most dynamic automotive markets, global suppliers are recalibrating their strategies to align with the country’s scale, speed, and shifting consumer expectations. In this detailed conversation with Machine Edge Global, Sanjay Jadhav engages with Jörg Buchheim, Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Webasto SE, to understand how the company is deepening its India commitment. From expanding manufacturing capacity and accelerating localization to positioning India as a global competence center for engineering and roof innovations like MagicSky, Buchheim explains why the country is set to play a defining role in Webasto’s next phase of global growth.
How does Webasto view India’s importance in its global growth strategy, and what factors make the country a long-term strategic market for the Group?
India plays a pivotal role in our global growth strategy. The country is one of the world’s fastestexpanding automotive markets and shows exceptional momentum in the adoption of sunroofs across virtually all vehicle segments. This strong demand reflects a clear shift in consumer expectations: Indian customers are increasingly looking for advanced comfort, premium design, and distinctive features that elevate their incabin experience.
At the same time, India is a highly dynamic technology hub. For Webasto, it is a key market to scale and industrialize roof innovations like “MagicSky”*. The longterm market outlook in India aligns perfectly with our strategic focus on innovative roof systems and future mobility solutions.
Beyond market growth, India represents a long-term strategic commitment for Webasto: we continue to expand our local-for-local strategy, strengthen our engineering capabilities, and build deep partnerships with leading OEMs. India will remain one of our most important growth markets.
*MagicSky is an innovative ambient light feature integrated directly into the vehicle roof. By combining advanced LED lighting with optical coupling technologies, MagicSky transforms the glass surface into a customizable light element. At night, the system creates dynamic lighting patterns with adjustable intensity, allowing drivers and passengers to personalize the interior ambiance. During the day, the transparent print remains virtually invisible, ensuring a clear and unobstructed view of the sky. The result is a distinctive lighting experience that enhances both comfort and aesthetic appeal without compromising the sunroof’s primary function.
Webasto has consistently spoken about its long-term commitment to India. How does this commitment translate beyond manufacturing into areas such as innovation, talent development, and partnerships?
Our commitment to India goes far beyond expanding our manufacturing footprint. India has become an integral pillar of Webasto’s global development ecosystem and we are consistently strengthening this role in a very deliberate way with continued investments.
We are expanding our local engineering and R&D capabilities. Today, more than 200 engineers in India contribute not only to the needs of the local market but also to global development programs. Their work is essential for scaling advanced technologies.
Our teams develop solutions that are specifically tailored to local usage patterns, climate conditions, and customer expectations. This proximity to the market enables us to translate consumer insights into product features faster and more effectively than ever before. With our third plant in North India, we are not only expanding capacity but also reaffirming our intention to grow together with the Indian market for decades to come.
India has witnessed a sharp rise in demand for sunroofs across vehicle segments. What is driving this trend, and how is Webasto positioning itself to cater to this growing demand?
The surge in sunroof demand in India is driven by a fundamental shift in customer expectations. Sunroofs have become a strong differentiation feature across all vehicle segments and are no longer limited to premium models. Indian consumers value the emotional and aesthetic value a sunroof brings: more natural light, more openness, and a clear upgrade in the incabin experience. For many customers, it has become a lifestyle choice rather than a purely functional one.
Webasto anticipated this development early, and we are positioning ourselves accordingly. With our third manufacturing facility in the Delhi region, which will start production at the end of 2026, we are now present in all major automotive clusters. North, West, and South India. This significantly shortens supply routes, strengthens our localforlocal strategy, and enables us to serve our OEM partners with the speed and reliability they expect.
Could you elaborate on Webasto’s approach to localization in India? How critical is localized production in ensuring competitiveness, quality, and faster time-to- market?
To operate successfully here and elsewhere in the world, you need to be close to customers in a geographically, operationally, and technologically sense.
Localization almost covers the entire value chain. We work intensively with Indian technology partners in areas such as glass, motors, and ECUs to strengthen our local-for- local capabilities. This approach significantly reduces lead times, increases cost competitiveness, and enhances supplychain resilience. At the same time, India-based production fully aligned with Webasto’s global quality standards and processes.
What kind of investments is Webasto making to strengthen its local production capabilities in India, and how do these investments align with the company’s global manufacturing roadmap?
The most visible step is the new manufacturing facility in the Delhi region, which expands our footprint across all three major automotive clusters in India. With this site, our total local capacity moves toward roughly two million units per year, giving us the scale and flexibility required for a rapidly growing market.
These investments are not limited to increasing volume. They are designed to support both current and future OEM programs, including global customer platforms. India offers the ideal balance of market momentum, engineering talent, and industrial competitiveness – which makes it the right place to expand our capabilities in a structured and sustainable way.
Webasto has been expanding its R&D footprint in India. What role does India play in the Group’s global innovation ecosystem?
Our Indian R&D teams are an important innovation hub for cost- optimized, scalable solutions and already play an active role in global development and engineering programs. They support crossregional projects, accelerate development cycles and contribute to digital tools, testing methodologies and product optimization that benefit the entire Group.
Looking ahead, Webasto India is set to become a global competence center for electronics and mechanical design. This means that Indian engineering resources will increasingly support major global projects. The breadth of capabilities we are building covers design, simulation, testing and validation, which allows the teams to take on more endtoend responsibilities.
How is India contributing not just as a manufacturing base but also as an innovation hub supporting global Webasto projects?
India has evolved into an important innovation pillar for Webasto. It adds engineering depth, speed and technological capability that directly benefit our customers. Our colleagues are also becoming more deeply involved in crossregional and crossfunctional innovation initiatives. Whether we are industrializing roof technologies or piloting digital process tools, our Indian teams bring strong technical expertise and a high degree of agility. This makes India an increasingly important part of our global innovation ecosystem.
Finally, what is your outlook for Webasto in India over the next five to ten years, and what milestones should stakeholders look forward to?
With our new plant in the Delhi region and the strong trajectory of our existing Pune and Chennai facilities, Webasto will strengthen its role as a highcapacity, highquality production. At the same time, our R&D capabilities will continue to grow. We also see deeper collaboration with our Indian OEM partners on new roof systems and advanced technologies. India is a market where innovation is accelerating quickly, and together with our partners we will bring new concepts into series production. Most importantly, our longterm outlook for India is defined by continuous investment in people, in technology, in sustainability and in customer relationships.