Hero MotoCorp Ready to Introduce Products in Electric Segment Next Year
Hero MotoCorp has already entered two-wheeler EV in the form of investments in a Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy.
Earlier, the company had also announced its partnership with Taiwan-based Gogoro Inc to bring the latter’s battery swapping platform to India
New Delhi: Hero MotoCorp, India’s biggest two-wheeler manufacturer, has announced that it will be entering the growing industry of electric vehicles. The company will be launching a new electric model next year, according to a senior company official.The company will be using its Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Stephanskirchen (Germany) based R&D set-ups to develop its own products, according to a PTI report.
Earlier, the company had also announced its partnership with Taiwan-based Gogoro Inc to bring the latter’s battery swapping platform to India.
Furthermore, both brands have also decided to collaborate on electric vehicle development to bring Hero-branded, powered by Gogoro network vehicles to market.
“We are trying to launch one of the EV products in fiscal year 2022, and you will see multiple actions, whether it is our own product or a swap product or with Gogoro. All of those actions you will see in the next calendar year,” Hero MotoCorp CFO Niranjan Gupta said in an analyst call.
Hero MotoCorp has already entered two-wheeler EV in the form of investments in a Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy.
Elaborating on the EV strategy, Gupta said the company’s Germany and Jaipur-based R&D centres have been working to develop products based on fixed charging system.
The Gogoro partnership on the other hand is focusing on the swap based system, he added.
“Our view is that probably both will work in parallel to each other. Given the entire appetite and the infrastructure that exists, it is complementary that our own programme works on a fixed charging and then with Gogoro which will work on swapping, that allows us to play in both the spaces,” Gupta noted.
He added that the tie-up with the Taiwan-based firm could also help the company to strengthen its own product development programme.
“From a swapping system, of course, Gogoro has got ready and proven technology. They know how it works and there is a lot of learning that has gone into it in Taiwan, so that helps us in taking off the ground very quickly,” Gupta said.
The timeline for both the projects is next year, he added.
“I would not say which part of the next year. Obviously we are trying to accelerate as much as we can, but right now, I would say that in the next calendar year, you can hope to see a lot of actions on the EV front from our side as far as hitting the market is concerned,” Gupta noted.
In regards to the rollout of premium products, he said: “We had embarked on this premium strategy in terms of filling the portfolio right across all the CCs and all the segments.
You have already seen us coming out with Xtreme 160R, you have seen us coming out with Xpulse and you will see more and more products coming out every year.”
Gupta noted that the pandemic has had no impact on the company’s product roll-out plans.
“In terms of new products, the company is not delaying launches. As of now, all our launch pipeline plans, which are there for the next three to five years, remain exactly where they were,” he noted.
Source: livemint
