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Greaves Cotton has reported strong growth in its electric vehicle business and presents a bright future outlook amid short-term disruptions due to headwinds from the second Covid-19 wave.
The company’s electric mobility business has seen higher growth momentum, with its EV arm Ampere gaining popularity due to rise in demand for its electric two-wheelers (electric scooters) and electric three-wheelers (electric rickshaws).
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The company’s electric two-wheeler volumes have grown by 63 per cent at 8,210 units in the March 2021 quarter as against 5,029 units in the year-ago quarter. Electric three-wheeler volumes more than doubled to 1,865 units in January-March 2021 quarter from 918 units a year-ago.
For the full year 2020-21, the total electric two-wheeler volumes stood at 22,661 units (18,536 units in FY20), while electric three-wheeler volumes were at 4649 units (4382 units). The company claims a market share of about 20 per cent in the electric two-wheeler market.
Ampere bullish on e-scooters as paranoia over public transport grows amid Covid
Strengthening leadership team
While it is preparing for the future growth curve, the current quarter demand for electric vehicles is expected to be impacted by the second wave related disruptions and lockdowns due to the second wave of the pandemic.
Keeping in mind future growth plans, the company has strengthened the leadership team of e-mobility business to accelerate business expansion. It has roped in Roy Kurian, who served as marketing head of Yamaha India, to spearhead its EV business.
“Electric mobility business delivered an all-time high performance in Q4FY21 with revenue of ₹68 crore,” Nagesh A Basavanhalli, Group CEO and Managing Director, Greaves Cotton Limited, said in a Q4 results concall with investors.
With the addition of 132 new dealers in FY21, e-mobility business has 328 dealers across 260 cities. The company’s B2B customer base has expanded to 50-plus partners now. It has 165 dealers for electric three-wheelers.
The company bets on a comprehensive eco system it has built for the electric vehicle business. Apart from a range of products, it has built a strong service set-up with doorstep service. It has also been seeing traction in the fleet owners and institutional buyers segment supported by customised packages, according to Basavanhalli.
In order to be cost-competitive, the company is continuously working on increasing localisation in its e-vehicles with the only major import being lithium-ion cells. It is getting ready for large-scale production of electric vehicles; the company is building a new electric vehicle manufacturing unit at Ranipet in Tamil Nadu at an estimated investment of ₹700 crore, spread over a long term. The factory is likely to be ready by this year and may have a capacity of one lakh units per annum initially.
The company’s objective is to become an integrated player in the last mile E-mobility segment with strong presence in electric two and three-wheeler categories.
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