By IANS,
Chennai : The global move towards battery-powered electric vehicles (EV) would force many auto ancillaries supplying engine and transmission parts to re-engineer themselves, said a Japanese official.
“The EV has less number of moving parts. Auto ancillaries in the space of power transmission may have to restructure themselves. However, the internal combustion engine vehicles will be in the market in sizeable numbers,” Motohiko Nakane, business advisor, Invest Japan Business Support Centre, Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), told IANS.
He was speaking on the sidelines of a conference on Indo-Japan Business Cooperation in Automotive Sector organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and JETRO here Tuesday.
JETRO works towards boosting foreign direct investment (FDI) in Japan and also promote cross border business tie-ups.
Nakane said there are many Japanese companies that are open for mergers and acquisitions and Indian companies can look at the possibility.
Speaking at the conference, he said the auto industry is moving towards development of next generation vehicles.
“In 2009, sales of electric vehicles were approximately 750,000 units, with the largest market being Japan at 350,000 units. The United States accounted for about 290,000 of such vehicles. Total worldwide sales of Japanese electric vehicles were 690,000 units, for a share of over 90 percent,” Nakane said.
According to him in 2050, next-generation automobiles (EVs, low emission vehicles and fuel cell powered ones) are predicted to account for over half of the 63 million vehicles owned worldwide.
Speaking about the kinds of next generation vehicles, he said EVs will be used for short distance travel and the vehicle types will be two wheelers and small-sized delivery, passenger cars for medium to long distance fuelled by petrol, diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) with low emissions.
The commercial vehicles will be fuelled by hydrogen cells.