Chinese LED Ambient Lights

Made in China ambient lights are finding takers in the Indian aftermarket. Ashish Bhatia and Prateek Pardeshi look at their growing attraction.

- Ashish Bhatia and Prateek Pardeshi

he bug of customisation has bitten Indian vehicle owners for long. So much so, that even a new vehicle on delivery instead of making its way to the owner's parking lot finds itself being driven into the workshops offering modifications or enhancements. Here interior ambient lights have come to become a big rage with owners of even the top-of-the-line, fullyloaded premium Sports Utility Vehicles as a testimony. They prefer to roll down their fully air-conditioned vehicles to bask in the glory of unique interiors as they seek gratification from onlookers. Despite the growing calls for using local products available in the market, the plug-play solutions on offer from Chinese manufacturers seem to be a hit with enthusiasts. Even the high import duties and stringent customs checks have seemingly failed to deter their widespread distribution. On the whole, China leads the imports accounting for ~30 per cent of the total imports ahead of Germany (11 per cent) by a big margin.

FY2022 also marked a 33 per cent increase in imports on a Yearover-Year (YoY) basis. Electricals and Electronics as a whole accounted for 14 per cent with interiors (non-electronics) at eight per cent.

Perhaps attributed to the quality of make and the fit and finish by local workshops here in India, there is enough and more uptake in the aftermarket. The Indian aftermarket is pegged at an estimated Rs.74,203 crore (USD 10 bn) and witnessed a steady 15 per cent growth in FY2022. This compared to Rs.64,524 crore (USD 8.7 bn) in the previous fiscal.