--- title: "Engine maker Horse plans India move to supply growing small car market, CEO says" type: "News" locale: "en" url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/284073578.md" description: "Engine maker Horse Powertrain plans to establish a manufacturing presence in India, driven by increased demand for compact vehicles following a reduction in federal sales tax on small cars. CEO Matias Giannini stated that the company has filed to set up a legal entity in India and aims to combine partnerships with local manufacturing. Horse, formed from Renault and Geely's combustion engine operations, supplies engines to various carmakers and is in discussions for potential contracts with top-tier manufacturers." datetime: "2026-04-25T04:28:29.000Z" locales: - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/284073578.md) - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284073578.md) - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/284073578.md) --- # Engine maker Horse plans India move to supply growing small car market, CEO says (Corrects headquarters in paragraph 4 to London, not Madrid) By Rachel More BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - 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. 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. (Reporting ​by Rachel More; additional reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi; ​Editing by David Dolan and Edwina Gibbs) ### Related Stocks - [GELYY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GELYY.US.md) - [GELHY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/GELHY.US.md) - [00175.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/00175.HK.md) - [VLVLY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/VLVLY.US.md) - [MBGYY.US](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/MBGYY.US.md) - [7201.JP](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/7201.JP.md) - [80175.HK](https://longbridge.com/en/quote/80175.HK.md) ## Related News & Research - [Geely Technology Ecosystem on Full Display and Debut of Chinaâs First Purpose-Built Robotaxi at Auto China 2026](https://longbridge.com/en/news/284035982.md) - [China Merchants Securities Reaffirms Their Buy Rating on Geely Automobile Holdings (GELYF)](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283741472.md) - [Horse Powertrain unveils hybrid system for BEV platforms](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283496334.md) - [Geely's Caocao to deploy thousands of fully customised robotaxis in 2027](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283952928.md) - [Year of the Horse power: Geely and Renault release full details of pioneering combustion engine for plug-in hybrids that cuts fuel use by 40 per cent](https://longbridge.com/en/news/283098256.md)