DRiV banks on Dhoni to drive brand recall as it targets $500 million India business by 2030

It is among the top 30 Tier-1 suppliers in the global automotive aftermarket with a host of top legacy brands in its portfolio. Yet DRiV, as an umbrella brand, remains relatively unknown in India, even though its products such as Goetze, Monroe, and Champion have tremendous recall in the aftermarket.

“What customers do not know is they all belong under one umbrella called DRiV,” says Chintan Sopariwala, President, in a video interview from the company’s corporate office in Chicago, US.

It’s an anomaly he wishes to set right and has therefore roped in Indian cricket’s most famous face as its brand ambassador. Captain Cool, as Mahendra Singh Dhoni is popularly known, is now onboard with DRiV to spread the good word.

“I think that move will absolutely play a big role in it, no doubt about it,” says a visibly pleased Sopariwala. According to him, MS (as he refers to Dhoni) has the perfect traits that resonate with DRiV — performance under pressure combined with trust and dependability.

How Dhoni and DRiV jell together

“And when you look at our brands, the longevity and the performance that we deliver, they reasonably associate very well with MS's own qualities. So we do believe that MS promoting DRiV and the sub-brands will help create more awareness within the Indian subcontinent,” he elaborates.

Sopariwala is quick to point out that “performance, performance, and performance” are eventually the tickets to entry into any market.

A company could have any celebrity endorse its brand(s), but this is a futile effort if it does not have the right products backed up with quality.
The difference here, according to him, is that Dhoni also has pretty high standards and would not associate himself with this brand if he had not been using its products.

“He was very well aware about all of our brands being an auto enthusiast himself. We started talking and there was a genuine connection. When he is a user of our products, it only makes sense for us to tie up with him to further promote the brand and take it to the next level,” reasons Sopariwala.

DRiV was founded in 2018 following Tenneco’s acquisition of Federal-Mogul. Today, it is predominantly an aftermarket company that is a division of Tenneco. Present in 53 countries, DRiV’s portfolio comprises 31 aftermarket brands, 14 of which have been around for more than a century.

Come a long way

“A century of trust is never bought, it is owned. So we have come a long way and are very excited. We are looking forward to the next 100 years,” adds the President.

In India, DRiV has roughly 850 distributors who cater to two-wheelers, passenger cars, and the commercial truck off-highway segment.

“Our plan is to hit nearly three times our current revenues by 2030 which will translate into half a billion dollars,” says Sopariwala.

The products retailed here include pistons, piston rings and piston kits under the Goetze brand as well as shocks and suspensions under Monroe. Champion spark plugs and ignition products are also part of the DRiV fold.

“While people in India are familiar with these brands, I want them to understand that they are all embedded with a common thread which is DRiV. And that is the awareness that we are trying to create in the Indian market,” says Sopariwala.

When asked whether this is really important, given that the sub-brands are already doing well, he says there are two ways to look at it. One, as the saying goes, ‘if it ain't broke, don't fix it.’

The other way of thinking about this is, “Hey, India is the one of the fastest growing automotive ecosystems out there and the pie keeps on getting bigger. We have a good portion but want an increasingly larger portion of this growing pie,” responds Sopariwala.

Shifting gears with Dhoni

The time has come to shift gears, which also puts into context the move to rope in Dhoni, coupled with an aggressive new-product drive. This will see the launch of radiator fans for cars early next year and ignition coils for two-wheelers under the Champion brand in the first quarter of 2027.

Additionally, for passenger cars, struts/mount kits, which are mostly rubber parts, are also coming out this year. In the case of two-wheelers, the basket will include electrical products, capacitor chargers, relays, flashers, regulators, etc which reflects DRiV’s “bold” ambitions.

“India is a fantastic market for commercial vehicles which are not as impacted by electrification, especially not immediately. Beyond maintenance items, there is tremendous demand for flywheels, flywheel rings and powertrain associated components,” continues Sopariwala.

Continuous market research and intelligence also suggest that 85 per cent of vehicles in operation globally will still be non-electric 10 years from now. “We are not talking about vehicles in production but those on the road,” he adds.

Against this backdrop, the fact remains that at least two-thirds of DRiV’s global product portfolio, as it stands today, is powertrain-agnostic.

“Think about braking and you are going to need them for electric vehicles; steering and suspension likewise and and so on,” says Sopariwala.

At least two-thirds of our global product portfolio is powertrain-agnosticChintan Sopariwala, President, DRiV

Keeping pace with the market

In India, nearly 60 per cent of DRiV’s product portfolio depends on gas or petrol powertrains. However, it plans to keep pace with market changes through new products and lead the aftermarket ecosystem.

Beyond India's shores, DRiV offers shock and strut, steering, and suspension parts for larger EV makers.

“There are only two ways you can get those parts, either from the OEs themselves or from a DRiV distributor,” he adds. This aligns with the company’s philosophy of providing comprehensive end-to-end vehicle coverage.

There are also useful sourcing dynamics playing out in India. For instance, certain pistons and gaskets for European-market vehicles may be sourced for this market but may be made in the US or Europe.

Nearly 80 per cent of shocks, struts, and spark plugs are made in India for the domestic market.

“For the supply chain to evolve, all cards are on the table. If that means a new plant, we are not against it and that could be in India for India as well as for the world,” says Sopariwala.

Even today, parts are exported from India to Egypt, South Africa and Brazil. Brazil is a huge two-wheeler market.

“From a supply chain perspective, we also have big plans for India to rest of the DRiV nations worldwide,” he says.

We have been able to significantly alleviate geopolitical risk through a deliberately diversified footprintChintan Sopariwala, President, DRiV

India plant template

The company operates plants in Chennai and Palwal, Haryana, which manufacture and assemble brake parts, engines, suspensions, etc., under the brands Ferodo, Jurid, Goetze, Monroe, Wagner, and Champion.

Even while extreme volatility is the theme across the world, the company is confident that it remains reasonably insulated thanks to its diversified geographical footprint which has “deliberately evolved” over the last 2-3 years.

“This has helped position DRiV in a way where we cannot entirely eliminate our geopolitical risk but have been able to significantly alleviate it. We are not dependent on a single region for a lot of our supplies,” explains Sopariwala.

For instance, the company has a shocks and struts plant in Poland and Australia while its parent, Tenneco, has one in India. DRiV also has a tie-up with a major supplier for shocks and struts in Vietnam.

Coping with volatility

“Our supply chain team has the luxury of planning and sourcing from multiple places should need be and that is exactly how we have navigated a lot of tough environments when it comes to the geopolitical scenario today,” he says.

As the motto at DRiV goes, ‘We don't like to predict the future, we like to make it.’

The conversation veers back to Dhoni, and Sopariwala reiterates that the former India captain is “definitely a very humble and down-to-earth personality” who is a genuine auto enthusiast and a keen user of DRiV brands.

“It was the perfect marriage,” he declares.

Neeraj Bassi, Head of Consulting at Ogilvy India, which handled the Dhoni alignment with DRiV, has this to say.

“Our recommendation to partner with Mahendra Singh Dhoni stems from a simple truth: his reputation for trust, consistency and precision mirrors the values that define DRiV.”