Samvardhana Motherson Bets Beyond Auto as Time Runs Short

Samvardhana Motherson, one of India’s oldest auto-parts manufacturers, continues to depend heavily on the automotive sector even as it pushes to diversify into new businesses. The company reported a record FY26 with revenue of Rs 1.26 lakh crore, or about $13 billion, and an order book worth $96 billion. Most of this came from core auto components such as wiring harnesses, mirrors, and polymer modules, while non-automotive activities contributed only around 3% of revenue.

Chairman Vivek Chaand Sehgal has long argued that the company cannot rely on cars alone for future growth. In November 2020, Samvardhana Motherson announced “Vision 2025,” a strategy aimed at making non-automotive businesses contribute 25% of total revenue by the end of FY25. The plan included expansion into consumer electronics, aerospace, health and medical devices, and logistics.

However, the company has fallen well short of that target. Of the 16 greenfield facilities set up in recent years, only six are in non-auto segments. By the end of FY25, the non-auto business generated about Rs 5,800 crore in revenue, which was less than 5% of total turnover and far below the company’s stated goal. While the segment has grown in absolute terms, the pace has lagged behind expectations and remains overshadowed by the faster-growing auto business.

The company’s FY26 results showed that some of the newer verticals are starting to gain traction. Consumer electronics revenue rose 7.5 times during the year, while aerospace sales increased 40%. Even so, these businesses are still at an early stage and only began contributing meaningful revenue in the second fiscal year of operations. As a result, the overall diversification effort is progressing more slowly than planned.

Rather than abandoning its strategy, Samvardhana Motherson has extended its timeline. Under “Vision 2030,” the company now aims to reach 25% revenue from non-auto businesses by FY30, along with a 40% return on capital employed. Management says it will continue to direct a larger share of growth capital toward emerging segments, especially consumer electronics, where it sees strong near-term opportunity.

For FY27, about 60% of planned growth capex, or roughly Rs 1,800 crore, has been earmarked for non-automotive businesses. This signals that the company is prepared to keep investing heavily in diversification, even if the payoff takes longer than originally expected.

The broader message is that Samvardhana Motherson’s transformation is underway, but the auto business still dominates the balance sheet and the revenue mix. The company’s challenge is not a lack of ambition, but the difficulty of building new engines of growth that can match the scale and momentum of its established automotive franchise.