AARKAY Forge, a Faridabad-based hand tool manufacturer, has stepped into automotive trade shows for the first time, exhibiting at Automechanika Frankfurt 2026 after years of participating in Cologne’s International Hardware Show. The company reported a strong response at this show, with several new leads from both within and outside Europe, even as it now sets its sights on entering the US market.
Founded in 1993 as a family-owned business, now in its second generation, AARKAY Forge doesn’t sell under its own brand in India; instead focusing entirely on private branding and OEM supply.
Speaking to this publication, Mr. Ajay Seth, General Manager, AARKAY Forge, said the company’s largest customer is Mercedes-Benz, to which it supplies passenger car components, including tow hooks, to Germany and India through a dedicated warehouse in Böblingen, near Stuttgart. Beyond Mercedes, the company supplies leading European hand tool brands including Gedore, Wera, Hoffmann, and Bahco, with its business strongly rooted in Europe.
That deep dependence on European OEMs, however, comes with its own risks. Being closely tied to customers in this region means AARKAY Forge’s own fortunes tend to move with its clients’ sales performance, and lately, that’s been a growing concern. Europe’s auto industry has been grappling with weak sales, with reports of plant closures and layoffs across the sector. It’s precisely this vulnerability that’s pushing AARKAY Forge to diversify into new markets like North America, aiming to cushion the impact whenever European demand dips.
AARKAY Forge specialises specifically in spanners and wrenches, deliberately avoiding a broad hand tool range in favour of quality-focused OEM-standard manufacturing, a positioning the company describes as its core USP, refusing to compromise on quality even when customers request lower-cost alternatives.
Building on this momentum, AARKAY Forge is now advancing its North America plans. Having already begun private branding with one customer there, the company is exploring further opportunities in the heavy-duty truck segment, where tool kits form a standard part of every vehicle. The company acknowledged that current US tariff uncertainty is somewhat holding back momentum in that market, but remains confident about long-term potential, especially given its existing European warehousing and logistics infrastructure, which could support offshore supply to North American customers as well.
While Europe remains its core strength, the company is expanding cautiously rather than entering multiple new markets at once. It also remains open to expanding its product range into related automotive accessories, such as jacks, when customer demand and quality standards align, though this would require additional tooling investment, he said.
Beyond OEM supply, the company also serves the garage equipment segment, though indirectly. Rather than supplying garage equipment manufacturers directly (since a full toolkit typically bundles many items like screwdrivers and spanners together), AARKAY Forge supplies established branded tool manufacturers, who in turn supply those garage equipment makers. The company’s forged components typically make up only two to four items within a larger kit, reinforcing its B2B-focused approach rather than direct-to-garage or consumer sales, he explained.
On manufacturing, he said capacity is not a constraint, operating two plants with fully in-house processes, from forging and heat treatment to plating, with no outsourcing of production. The only external input is raw material sourced to meet strict quality standards, reinforcing the company’s position as a fully vertically integrated, quality-first manufacturer rather than a trading or brand-assembly operation, Mr. Seth added.
