Blaupunkt became an independent company in 2009 when it was separated from Bosch. Since then they have been growing by more than 40% a year.
Rahul Devjani, Director, Blaupunkt India, in an Interaction with Mobility magazine, shares his views.
Mobility: What is Blaupunkt India’s roadmap for India and Global?
Rahul Devjani: Blaupunkt has a 90-year history of innovation in the Industry–since the world first car radio was launched in 1930s and innovation continues to be an integral part of our DNA. Today, Blaupunkt is the best placed to drive the technology changes in the infotainment industry-–we have the technology platforms in place. We are the only Tier 1 player present in both the after-market and OE segments. Most new technologies are first introduced in the retail/CE segments and then extended to the OE space, giving us a first mover advantage. We have also developed a scalable Android-based connected car platform which positions us well to cater to OEM requirements in 2015-16.
Mobility: How many product lines does Blaupunkt have currently?
Rahul Devjani : As a company Blaupunkt has a wide range of product lines and a comprehensive portfolio for OE and retail segments in the infotainment space including radios (from integrated to 1 and 2 din systems), multimedia navigation, rear seat entertainment, sound (including speakers subwoofers and amplifiers) and accessories.
In addition to automotive, we also have products for the building, aviation and marine segments.
In automotive, we serve passenger and commercial segments with 12-24V solutions for passenger cars, trucks, buses, construction and land moving equipment, caravans, etc. We are working with most of the world leading automotive OEMs in these segments
Mobility: What are the new technology innovations you are coming up with in this segment?
Rahul Devjani : We have developed a scalable Android platform which will serve us in the coming years. Blaupunkt will be focussing on three technologies and will aim to be market leaders in these technologies in the coming years.
- Navigation
- Smart Phone Integration
- Android.
Mobility: What big news can we expect from Blaupunkt?
Rahul Devjani : Lot of new exciting products and innovations are planned for 2015 both in the OE and retail segments, details will be made available in the near future.
Mobility: Any tie-ups and mergers you are entering into in India?
Rahul Devjani: We are currently working with or discussing with all major OE in India but cannot disclose any names or projects. We also continue to expand our footprint globally – we currently operate in 64 countries and will be making a big push into the MEA and Latin America region over the coming months.
Mobility: What is your current growth rate in India, and what are you look for in next one year?
Rahul Devjani : Blaupunkt became an independent company in 2009 when it was separated from Bosch – since then we have been growing by more than 40% a year. We have always enjoyed brand loyalty and a premium perception in India, and now with an expanding product portfolio across price segments and a pan India footprint, our retail operations have been growing by more than 50% a year. We expect retail to continue to grow at 20-30% over the next few years. In the OEM segment, we’ve added a number of new OEM customers and projects that will further enhance our brand visibility and market share, in the next 2 years. On the OE side, project development lifecycles tend to span multiple years – we are currently developing projects that will give us a significant growth over the next few years.
Mobility: Which are your products that are doing well in the Indian market?
Rahul Devjani : As a company Blaupunkt has a wide range of product lines and a comprehensive portfolio for OE and retail segments in the infotainment space including radios (from integrated to 1 and 2 din systems), multimedia navigation, rear seat entertainment, sound (including speakers, subwoofers and amplifiers) and accessories. All these products are available in India.
Mobility: Please give your final take on this industry segment
Rahul Devjani: It’s a very interesting time to be in the automotive infotainment industry – technology, connectivity and convergence are fast changing the landscape. The car radio is no longer just a tuner or music system, but has become an entertainment, productivity, information and communication console in the car. Today, connectivity is not just about connecting with external media sources like USB, aux, SD or even Bluetooth but instead opens up a wide range of possibilities including connectivity (command and control) of smartphones, connected navigation with life traffic and additional layers of data, connectivity with the car (CAN) for display of vehicle parameters, driver assistance, etc. Asia has always been an early adapter of technology and the Indian customer is also demanding a truly connected experience in the car.
The trends that will shape the industry are:
- Today connected navigation with life traffic is becoming a highly desired feature with increasing inter-city travel
- Vehicle connectivity – for driver information and assist
- Android platforms with Internet connectivity and applications
- Smartphones integration and leveraging full functionality and processing power of smartphones in the car
- Connected rear seat entertainment solutions
- Smarter more intuitive HMIs including voice
Our OE radio platforms incorporate all the above technologies and our 2014-15 retail product portfolios also includes a number of these features, so expect to hear a lot of exciting news from Blaupunkt in the coming months. In addition we have established a market leading position in the OE rear seat entertainment space.
