Schaeffler Sees Opportunities in High-Growth Sectors and Fulfilling Regional Supply Needs
Key Highlights
- Anant Bhat, Director of Business Development – Bearings & Industrial Solutions Americas at Schaeffler, shares his thoughts on the opportunities as well as challenges that faced the company in 2026.
- Though global economic conditions remained challenging, he said Schaeffler’s Americas region saw steady demand due to opportunities in high-growth sectors like defense and an increased requirement for regional content from automotive customers.
- Hybrid ceramic bearings and bearings capable of operating at faster speeds are some of the technology requirements the company sees going forward.
Global market conditions presented challenges once again in 2026. But it has not been all bad news as many technology suppliers have continued to find opportunity areas.
Anant Bhat, Director of Business Development – Bearings & Industrial Solutions Americas at Schaeffler, told Power & Motion that while there have been market challenges, the company saw steady demand across the Americas region this year.
Investments in energy infrastructure, data centers as well as factory automation and robotics helped drive demand for the company’s bearings and other industrial components during the year. In addition, Bhat noted Schaeffler saw increased requests for regionally produced content for automotive applications.
He expects each of these to remain growth drivers in 2027 as well.
In this Q&A with Power & Motion, Bhat shares his perspectives on the opportunities and challenges faced in 2026, trends driving future technology requirements and expectations for 2027.
*Editor’s note: Questions and responses have been edited for clarity.
Power & Motion: From your perspective, how have market conditions been in 2026 for your company and the industries it serves?
Anant Bhat: From our perspective at Schaeffler, 2026 has been a year of mixed market conditions, selective growth and strategic resilience. While global economic conditions remain challenging and rapidly changing, our positioning as a leading Motion Technology Company has enabled us to maintain a stable operational footprint across the region Americas.
Overall demand across the region Americas has remained steady, driven by heavy domestic investment in energy infrastructure, increased requirement for regional content for automotive applications, and advanced manufacturing automation. However, market performance varies significantly by end market:
- High-Growth Sectors: Power generation, data center power solutions, and defense/aerospace have experienced robust, double-digit demand.
- Stable Sectors: Factory automation, robotics, and medical equipment have maintained consistent, healthy replacement and OEM volume.
- Soft/Cyclical Sectors: Traditional automotive ICE (internal combustion engine) platforms, residential construction machinery, and general industrial distribution have faced modest macro headwinds due to prolonged high interest rates and capital expenditure discipline.
- Industrial & Aerospace Solutions: Our Bearings & Industrial Solutions division saw solid momentum. High-demand sectors include aerospace, power generation, defense, medical technology and factory automation.
- Automotive & E-Mobility: The North American subregion within Schaeffler’s Americas region saw steady low-single-digit regional growth. E-Mobility product ramp-ups continue to gain traction, though the EV (electric vehicle) transition rate in North America has moved at a more measured pace than originally projected.
Power & Motion: What factors have presented challenges this year for your company and/or its customer markets?
Anant Bhat: Like any other specialized industrial and automotive component supplier, Schaeffler is faced with some market headwinds, mainly:
- Raw Material & Alloy Volatility: Specialty bearing steel, ceramic hybrid components, and high-performance lubricants have seen tight supply constraints and cost inflation.
- Customer CapEx Delays: High borrowing costs led some mid-tier OEMs to defer major machinery overhauls or greenfield equipment orders.
- Lead Time Pressures: Customers are maintaining ultra-lean inventories while demanding shorter lead times for custom-engineered bearings.
Power & Motion: How has your company attempted to address or overcome these challenges?
Anant Bhat: Our key measures consist of long-term sustainable strategic initiatives and short-term tactics across several functions. These include strengthening regional supply agreements for premium bearing steel, expanding into new markets like engineered bearings for aeroderivative gas turbines, while continuing to optimize our strategic inventory to support key end markets.
Power & Motion: Do you expect these challenges to persist in 2027?
Anant Bhat: We expect cost inflation on raw materials to moderate, but lead-time expectations will remain tight. As interest rates ease into 2027, deferred industrial CapEx (capital expenditure) is expected to unlock, shifting the main operational bottleneck from order demand to manufacturing capacity and skilled technical labor.
Power & Motion: What opportunities — from a market or technology perspective, or both — have you seen this year, and do you expect these opportunities to continue in the year ahead?
Anant Bhat: We expect all three of these pillars to remain as strong growth drivers through 2027 and beyond:
- Energy Transition & Power Generation: Demand for high-speed hybrid ceramic bearings, bearings for aeroderivative turbines, and backup power units for critical data centers has been a primary growth engine.
- Commercial and Defense Aerospace: Strong demand continues for highly engineered bearings and solutions for commercial and defense aerospace main engines.
- Medical and Precision Equipment: Specialty bearings for medical imaging, solutions for surgical room equipment, and customized actuators for several industrial applications.
Power & Motion: What are the most requested features or capabilities you’ve been getting from customers this year, and how, if at all, do they fit in with broader industry-wide trends?
Anant Bhat: In addition to the industry trends outlined [below], our strong regional footprint across Canada, the United States and Mexico positions us well to meet customer demand for existing local manufacturing, nearshoring and new manufacturing initiatives.
- Higher Speed & Thermal Limits – Electrification & Compact Turbines: High-speed electric motors and compact power units demand bearings that operate at elevated [speeds] without lubricant breakdown or electrical erosion.
- Extended L10 Life in Severe Environments – Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Plants are lengthening overhaul intervals; they demand advanced surface treatments, ceramic hybrids, and specialized seal geometry to keep contamination out.
- Insulated/Ceramic Hybrid Bearings – Stray Current Protection: Preventing electrical fluting caused by variable frequency drives (VFDs) and high-voltage electric powertrains.
- Predictive Maintenance: Customers want plug-and-play smart asset monitoring systems to feed real-time health data directly into plant condition-monitoring ecosystems.
Power & Motion: What opportunities do you see in 2027? Are there any markets you anticipate doing well or offering areas of opportunity in the coming year?
Anant Bhat: Looking ahead to 2027, we anticipate strong opportunities in:
Increased regional content across several key automotive applications.
- Data Center Infrastructure & Power: Stationary power generation, cooling pumps, and gas turbine auxiliary systems.
- Aerospace & Defense: High-precision bearings for main engines and auxiliary power units (APUs)
- Robotics & Semiconductor Manufacturing: Ultra-precise, low-torque linear guides and thin-section rotary bearings.
- Heavy Infrastructure Upgrades: Railway, cement and aggregate, renewable energy (e.g., bearings for wind turbines and linear actuators for solar farms).
- Mining and Material Handling: Large bearings and mounted units in critical equipment for mining and material handling applications.
About the Author
Sara JensenSara Jensen
Executive Editor, Power & Motion
Sara Jensen is executive editor of Power & Motion, directing expanded coverage into the modern fluid power space, as well as mechatronic and smart technologies. She has over 15 years of publishing experience. Prior to Power & Motion she spent 11 years with a trade publication for engineers of heavy-duty equipment, the last 3 of which were as the editor and brand lead. Over the course of her time in the B2B industry, Sara has gained an extensive knowledge of various heavy-duty equipment industries — including construction, agriculture, mining and on-road trucks —along with the systems and market trends which impact them such as fluid power and electronic motion control technologies.
You can follow Sara and Power & Motion via the following social media handles:
X (formerly Twitter): @TechnlgyEditor and @PowerMotionTech
LinkedIn: @SaraJensen and @Power&Motion
Facebook: @PowerMotionTech
