In The Driver's Seat

Suresh Kv, Country Head, Zf India, Believes In Taking Charge. Post Introducing A Culture Of Continuous Improvement And Innovation, His Company Has Seized A Sizeable Share Of The Transmissions’ Market.

- Mitalee Kurdekar

THE ZF INDIA HEADQUARTERS IN CHAKAN, PUNE, BEARS AN AIR of serenity about it, much like the man who runs the show there. In fact, Suresh KV, country head, ZF India, is the personification of the business he helms. Just as the German auto component giant’s Indian business has spent 30-plus years – since commencing operations in 1984 – building itself into a formidable force in the domestic market, Suresh too has let his work – since he took over in 2015 – do the talking. His unassuming manner camouflages a keen eye for detail and a passion for business, something that is reflected in his enthusiastic tone. He has ingrained the same ethos in his employees, thus ensuring that ZF steadily climbs the ranks and overtakes competition for a spot atop the business pyramid.

“If you take the case of transmissions, for a long time now, we have not been fighting the competition, but rather the in-house manufacturing units,” points out Suresh. “The Tatas, for instance, manufacture their own CV transmissions. However, for the past couple of years, we are hearing manufacturers question whether they should make transmissions, or leave it to organisations like ZF to support them, such that they can focus on the vehicle itself. And that’s a mindset change which is well and truly happening at major OEMs,” he states.

ZF is one of the leading suppliers in the CV transmissions space. Similarly, on the industrial side of things, ZF has created a niche by playing to their strengths. A case in point is their wind business, wherein they are possibly the only player in the country to have the entire manufacturing set-up at their disposal.