Force Motors is working on an electric version of its Urbania van as the company looks to expand its footprint in the fast-growing premium shared mobility segment and tap emerging demand for cleaner commercial transport solutions.
The Urbania range is currently available only with diesel powertrains and is sold in three wheelbase options. While the company has not disclosed a launch timeline for the electric model, Managing Director Prasan Firodia said the EV version is expected to add meaningful volumes to the Urbania portfolio over time.
Riding a 100% Sales Growth Wave
The development comes at a time when demand for premium people movers is gaining traction across segments such as hospitality, staff transportation, healthcare mobility and tourism.
“So, we are currently averaging close to around 700 units a month for the Urbania,” Firodia said, adding that the platform has witnessed sales growth of over 100 per cent year-on-year in the domestic market.
“We have been there in this segment that we are creating and growing. This premium shared mobility segment is something that is coming up. So be it tour and travel, hospitality or premium staff transport, a lot of these segments are now moving into shared mobility, which is also the need of the hour,” he said.
According to the company, healthcare mobility and employee transportation are emerging as key growth areas for the platform, especially as businesses and institutions increasingly seek higher quality mobility solutions. “The Urbania has now managed to create a very different and premium segment for itself with sales of about 700 units a month in the domestic market,” Firodia said.
Global Shipments
Force Motors has also started expanding Urbania’s presence in export markets, with shipments already underway to Latin America, Gulf countries and select African markets including the ones that have left-hand drive setups.
“Yes, Urbania is already in exports. We have currently exported the Urbania to countries in Latin America and multiple Gulf markets. We are also exporting it now into some African markets,” Firodia said.
“Slowly but in a calibrated manner, the Urbania has started getting into export markets and fortunately the response that we are getting is quite good,” he added.
Apart from civilian applications, the Urbania is also gaining traction among government departments and police forces. The company recently delivered the first batch of specially configured Urbania vehicles to the Mumbai Police.
“It has got very good acceptability thanks to the Mumbai Police orders. A lot of other government forces are also looking at the Urbania now,” Firodia said. “We’ve delivered the first lot of 100 vehicles and the feedback has been very positive.” he added.
