Hero Electric to set up multiple plants in India, eyes three-time growth by 2018

Hero Electric, the electric vehicles division of Hero MotoCorp, is planning to set up multiple assembly plants to meet its target of increasing sales by ten-fold in the next five years.

With a strong network of more than 300 sales and service outlets across the country and over 1 Lac customers, Hero Electric currently has a production capacity of 50,000 units per annum at its Ludhiana plant.

A pioneer and Market leader in the Indian Electric Two-Wheeler industry, the company expects to sell over 25,000 units this year. The firm has a presence in 32 countries but volumes are small and it plans to scale up in these international markets.

On the export front, the company says it would prefer to be either in the West or South India as they are easily accessible through ports.

"Our very conservative target is that we will be selling more than ten times of what we will be doing this year in the next five years. We will have multiple plants by that time," said Hero Electric Managing Director Naveen Munjal, reported Mint.

"Next year, we are targeting almost three times growth over this year. At that kind of pace, we will run out of capacity from this current plant. We will have to build a new facility," Munjal added.

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In April this year, the company partnered with the German tech giant Bosch to offer better technology and higher speed in its product lineup, and to source powertrains for its range of e-scooters.

These e-scooters are not cheap, but given that it has no maintenance cost and no fuel cost, the company claims it reasonable.

Besides, Hero Electric also falls under the central government’s FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) initiative and National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP), it is eligible for subsidies and exemptions.

Meanwhile, Munjal also said that the company will foray into e-rickshaw business because of the logistics cost involved in that. While in some cases a facility could be used for both two-wheelers and three-wheelers but in some cases it may be just a standalone three-wheeler production units, he added.

The company's parent group, Hero MotoCorp has invested in home-grown electric two-wheeler startup Ather Energy and owns a significant stake in the firm, which is aiming to open bookings for its first electric scooters S340 in India by early 2018.

Hero Electric: Website