Engine maker Horse plans India move to supply growing small car market, CEO says

BEIJING: Engine maker Horse Powertrain is laying the groundwork for a manufacturing presence in India after regulatory changes in the world’s third-largest car market boosted demand for compact vehicles, the company’s CEO told Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government slashed India’s federal sales tax on small cars to 18% from 28% in September. This includes gasoline cars measuring less than 4 meters in length, with an engine capacity of 1.2 litres or below.

“Everybody’s rushing now and saying, ‘We need a 1.2 litre efficient engine.’ That’s where we can help,” Chief Executive Matias Giannini said, speaking on the sidelines of the Beijing auto show, which opened to the media on Friday.

London-headquartered Horse, formed in 2024 out of the carved-out combustion engine operations of French carmaker Renault and China’s Geely, supplies fossil-fuel engines and hybrid systems to carmakers looking to streamline their operations in the transition towards EVs.

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Has filed to set up own legal India entity

Horse has filed to set up its own entity in India, Giannini said. The company hopes for a positive outcome some time in the third quarter of this year.

“The most likely first steps would be a combination of partnership and importing from other Horse locations, then stepping into local manufacturing,” Giannini said, adding that the goal was to supply to the Indian market but also export from there to other markets.

The firm operates 18 plants and five research and development centres across Europe, China and Latin America, most recently establishing a presence in the U.S.

Its customers include owners Renault and Geely as well as Volvo, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan.

Giannini said the company was in talks with all top-tier carmakers and that he hoped these would advance in some cases towards “some big contracts”. He did not give further details.