Technological Advancements Propelling Automotive HMI Growth in India

As per Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA), India was the fifth-largest producer of automobiles in 2019, with a final tally of 4,516,017 units. Since the 1990s, the focus of the global auto sector has witnessed a paradigm shift to countries like India, China, Japan, and South Korea, on account of their increasing urban population, which is experiencing a rise in its disposable income. While most people in India still purchase automobiles out of need, many do it just as a status symbol.

Either way, the auto sector of India continues to grow, with the India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEF) saying, “India became the fourth largest auto market in 2019 displacing Germany with about 3.99 million units sold in the passenger and commercial vehicles categories. India is expected to displace Japan as the third largest auto market by 2021.” As per P&S Intelligence, with the increasing vehicle production and sales, the Indian automotive human–machine interface (HMI) market will grow from $466.9 million in 2017 to over $1,000.0 million by 2023, at a healthy 14.1% CAGR between 2018 and 2023.

In this regard, the integration of touchscreen displays is growing with the increasing demand for connectivity features in automobiles. Connected vehicles offer automobile diagnostics, smartphone connectivity, traffic and collision warnings, roadside assistance, and real-time traffic monitoring, by allowing for data exchange with other vehicles, road infrastructure, and the consumer devices inside. As this leads to the generation of vast amounts of information that passengers and drivers need to see, the integration of HMIs, especially touchscreen displays and digital instrument clusters, is increasing in India.

HMIs are majorly available in mid-priced and premium vehicles in the country. Presently, mid-priced cars integrated with HMIs witness higher sales in the country, owing to the cost-sensitive nature of most of the buyers. However, in recent years, the sale of premium cars has started rising here, with the increasing disposable income of people and resulting surge in the number of high-net-worth individuals. With luxury automakers, such as Audi, BMW, Porsche, Lamborghini, and Mercedes-Benz witnessing increasing sales, the integration of HMIs in premium vehicles is expected to pick up in the years to come.

The increasing sale of premium and mid-priced cars is also the reason the Indian automotive HMI market has historically benefitted the most from the western part of the country. Maharashtra accounts for the highest disposable income of all Indian states, which is why the demand for expensive vehicles here has been traditionally high. Mumbai, the state capital, is the country’s financial and entertainment center, therefore, home to a large number of millionaires, who can easily afford costly automobiles integrated with cutting-edge HMIs.

Thus, with the increasing demand for expensive vehicles, preferably those with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) connectivity, automakers will integrate HMIs in more of their models.