French automotive technology major Valeo, which is a key systems supplier in the mechanical, software and EV components segments to OEMs in India, aims to tap the growing demand for ADAS (Advanced Driving Assistance Systems) from the passenger vehicle industry in the country. The company, which envisions India as one of the fastest-growing ADAS markets globally, expects worldwide penetration of up to Level-2 + ADAS features to hit 50% by 2030, and is banking on regulations to accelerate the safety technology’s democratisation in India.
According to Jayakumar G, Group President and Managing Director, Valeo India, “In India, ADAS is set to grow faster than anticipated, and every car will require some minimum form of ADAS functionalities in the coming years. We expect the democratisation of ADAS in India with an increased push from the government.”
“From the Indian market perspective, we see the front camera, which is an essential piece of safety, become a regulatory requirement. We have developed a smart way to use the computing power of the front camera to provide for additional ADAS features. So, it is a kind of an affordable software-defined vehicle (SDV), and could emerge as a means of introducing more SDV functions inside the vehicle,” he pointed out in a recent interaction with Autocar Professional.
Eyeing the potential boom in demand in what is known as a value-conscious market, Valeo India plans to localise ADAS technology in the country. Jayakumar stated, “As soon as we have the volumes and orders from customers, we will create the business plan and move in that direction. This is what we have done with some of our EV components like the three-in-one combined unit localised in Pune, ultrasonic parking sensors, and are currently doing with cameras. Volumes and scale would lead to increased levels of localisation and thereby, reduced costs. That is how the cost parity will come in this technology domain,” he affirmed.
Calibrating ADAS for India
Globally, Valeo is a key supplier of ADAS constituents, including its software, high-performance computational units, as well as sensors such as cameras, radars, and LiDARs, to OEMs for the application of these components in their ADAS packages inside vehicles. For instance, in 2021, the company received the Honda Supplier Award in the development category for supplying the high-performance on-board control units as well as the sensors used to achieve the Level-3 ADAS functionality on the Honda Legend.
The Japanese carmaker’s premium sedan featured five Valeo Scala 3D LiDARs – which won the CES 2024 Innovation Award – as well as two front cameras for continuous monitoring of the car’s environment. Moreover, Valeo’s ADAS software running on its Data Fusion controller, deploys advanced algorithms for object detection and creating a detailed 360-degree representation of the vehicle’s surroundings. In India too, Valeo supplies the imported front camera for the vision-based ‘Honda Sensing’ Level-2 ADAS suite on offer on the Honda Elevate, Honda City, and the newly-launched Honda Amaze sedan.
However, despite India’s lack of systematic road signages and behavioural requirements that are essential to realise the benefits of the advanced technology in assisting drivers to prevent severe accidents, he cited examples of domestic OEMs – Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra – which, with their recent products such as the Curvv SUV-coupe and XUV700 midsize SUV, have demonstrated the successful implementation of ADAS in enhancing road safety on Indian roads. Valeo India too is at present collecting data to calibrate Valeo’s ADAS technology for the local market and its diverse needs.
“As of now, we have built a demo vehicle and are running it across India in different cities. This is primarily to fine-tune the ADAS technology for the Indian conditions. We target to complete the exercise in a few months’ time, while also collating more data around the Indian conditions,” Jayakumar added.
India R&D driving Valeo’s global ADAS development
At its technology centres in Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, Valeo India is undertaking global R&D activities, of which, more than 50% are in ADAS development. With over 1,700 of the global software talent pool of 9,000 engineers stationed in India, the country contributes to about 19% of the overall software development for Valeo’s solutions for global markets, and is focusing on the pillars of electronics, software, and cybersecurity.
“Software, electronics, and cybersecurity – these are the key areas where we are going to expand our R&D resources both in terms of infrastructure and talent, going forward,” Jayakumar said, while adding that every OEM in India has begun analysing the Software-Defined Vehicle or SDV trend. “While every OEM in India has started talking about SDVs, it is important to see how it gets implemented eventually. From our standpoint, what Valeo is doing globally, will slowly translate to the Indian market as well,” he added.
The French technology major believes that while India is at the nascent stages of the requirements for high-performance computing units in vehicles, with the global shift in vehicle architectures to more centralised packages, if a vehicle is equipped with several advanced features like ADAS, a platform ends up becoming cheaper to use when it is in a centralised or domain-based format over conventional E/E architectures. “This is how we see the trend coming in India,” Jayakumar signed off on a very optimistic note.