Hero
Electric and the Mahindra Group announced their collaborative intent wherein
the latter Group will manufacture Hero Electric’s most popular electric bikes –
Optima and Nyx at their Pitampur plant to meet the growing demands of the
market.
The joint development efforts will also be a key factor in developing
the platform approach to help electrification of the Peugeot Motocycles’
portfolio. Peugeot Motocycles of France is owned by the Mahindra Group.
This
collaborative intent is part of Hero’s growth and expansion plans to cater to
the ever-growing demand for EVs in the country. The strategic partnership will
create multiple synergies to help drive adoption across the country.
As
part of the partnership, Mahindra Group will manufacture Hero Electric’s most
popular electric bikes – Optima & NYX at their Pitampur plant to meet the
growing demands of the market. With this collaboration along with the expansion
of their existing Ludhiana facility, Hero will be able to meet its demand of
manufacturing over 1 million EVs per year by 2022. This will further enable
them to drive adoption of a cleaner mode of transport.
Naveen
Munjal, MD, Hero Electric said, “Hero Electric has been leading the electric
two-wheeler sector in the country. To further deepen its roots and strengthen
the leadership, Hero Electric has announced a partnership with the Mahindra
Group, which is leading the EV transition in the electric three and four
wheelers space. This coming together of two industry leaders is to further
enhance the manufacturing capabilities to meet demand and utilize Mahindra
Group’s robust supply chain to reach newer centers in the country. The
long-term partnership will also see both the companies make the most out of
each other’s deep knowledge of EVs and drive new product development in the
next few years. We look forward to creating more synergies with them in the
near future.”
The
joint development efforts will also be a key factor in developing the platform
approach to help electrification of the Peugeot Motocycles’ portfolio. This is
expected to bring significant value to both parties through optimisation of
costs, timelines, and shared knowledge in this dynamic, fast growing global EV
environment.
Sharing
his thoughts on the partnership, Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto
& Farm Sectors, Mahindra& Mahindra Ltd., said, “Peugeot Motocycles has
ambitious plans in the EV mobility space in several regions of the world and
particularly in Europe. This strategic partnership will bolster these efforts
through joint development and a platform sharing approach leveraging the
combined strengths of the two businesses. Our R&D Centre in India will be
integral to this arrangement as will the manufacturing facility at Pitampur,
that already supplies Peugeot with EV products. I see significant value
creation on a mutually beneficial basis and look forward to this partnership
delivering on its obvious promise.”
The
two companies will create a seamless channel of communication to aid knowledge sharing
among the R&D teams to build new products and technologies. This will be
done keeping the Indian and global markets in mind that will not just further
the growth of electric vehicles, but also go on to set benchmarks for faster
adoption in the industry.