Why AUMOVIO’s India layoffs matter for the future of GCCs

The latest AUMOVIO layoffs in India highlight rising uncertainty across Global Capability Centres (GCCs) as multinational firms restructure research and development operations. India Starting with the automotive technology company based in Germany known as AUMOVIO India Global Capability Centres (GCCs) have begun receiving layoff as the company announced they planned to cut up to 1,000 employees in India as part of a larger restructuring of its research and development (R&D) facilities. This was initially reported by Moneycontrol based on first hand information of the matter and company reactions.

The move places AUMOVIO among a growing list of companies contributing to India GCC layoffs, particularly in high-value engineering and automotive software roles. Having about 6,000 Indian-based workers, the downsizing means that 16-17% of the local employees at the company will be impacted, making India one of the most targeted geographies in the global reconstruction of the company.

Why AUMOVIO is restructuring its R&D operations

The AUMOVIO restructuring reflects a wider industry shift toward fewer but more specialised R&D teams. AUMOVIO  is in the process of specifying its R&D strategy in order to hone up on market-leading technologies and enhance efficiency. The company explained that it is speeding up initiatives in its fields like software-defined vehicles (SDV) and is increasing technology alliances.

Continental used to be the Continental Automotive, which is among the largest automotive suppliers in the world. After spin-off, AUMOVIO today concentrates on sensors and comfort systems and the Introduction of AI-based Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) in order to enhance vehicle safety and minimise driver error.

The company also asserted that the communication with employees was done in accordance with the local legal requirements and that the majority of the measures will be undertaken by end-2026 in a socially responsible manner, as it described it.

India among the most affected regions

These cuts underline a broader trend of automotive R&D layoffs in India as companies shift spending toward software-defined vehicle platforms and AI-led systems. AUMOVIO anticipates that there are up to 4,000 positions worldwide, which will be affected in India, Singapore, Romania, Serbia, Germany, and Mexico. The share of India is significant since the nation has large R&D and engineering units in automotive software and electronics.

The reorganisation is expected to cut down R&D spending to less than 10% of the sales by 2027 as compared to the 11.9% in the third quarter of 2025. This represents the growing pressure on automotive companies to deal with expenses and transfer investments to software, automation, and AI-supported systems.

What this means for India’s GCC ecosystem

India’s Global Capability Centres were built as strategic innovation hubs, but the AUMOVIO restructuring shows they are now exposed to global cost and technology cycles. The GCCs of India have traditionally been placed as strategic R&D centres and not as cost centres. Nevertheless, the AUMOVIO layoffs indicate that the advanced engineering centres are susceptible even when the global companies re-prioritise technology.

The transition to software-defined vehicles is reshaping SDV jobs in India, with higher demand for software architects than mechanical engineers. Indian professionals and specifically those in the automotive software, embedded systems and electronics design, this is an indicator that they have to shift to SDVs platforms, AI mobility, and system level integration expertise. Mechanical and hardware-based traditional positions might grow less rapidly than software-based development of the automotive industry.

Is India ready for the next wave of workforce shifts?

The layoffs are part of broader R&D cost cutting efforts as margins tighten in the global automotive sector. Although layoffs are disruptive in the short term, they also suggest structural change in automotive R&D- not component engineering, but software-based vehicle platforms. The willingness of India will be based on the speed of reskilling its talent to AI based mobility, cloud based vehicle systems, and safety automation.

AUMOVIO emerged as a Continental spin-off to focus on next-generation mobility systems and intelligent vehicle platforms. The case of the AUMOVIO emphasises that the layoffs in the GCCs have ceased to concentrate on IT services and are instead spilling to deep-tech engineering. This highlights to policymakers and industry leaders the need to enhance the relevance of skilling programmes in response to SDV, AI, and the new generation automotive technologies.