Home grown two-wheeler heavyweights TVS Motor Company and Hero MotoCorp are readying multiple product roll outs across segments for FY24 in a bid to capitalise on the rebound in consumer demand for the segments.
Chennai-based TVS Motor Company has lined up a capital expenditure of ₹900 crore to ₹1000 crore for the current year which will be over an above ₹700 crore it will be keeping aside for investments.
This will be substantially higher than its last year’s capex and investment guidance of ₹1,150 crore for FY23. While most of the capex will go towards new product development especially for electric vehicles, investments will be made in subsidiaries.
After the success of its only EV iQube, which has made the company the second largest player in the electric scooter space, the company would be doubling down on its presence in the EV space overall.
Also read: Olectra Greentech’s strong order book helps drive net profit to Rs 65 crore in FY2023
“We will be launching a series of new products focusing on different customer segments with a complete portfolio in the range of 5-25 kw in the next 9-15 months. Electric three-wheelers, both cargo and passenger are getting ready and will be launched in the upcoming quarter,” KN Radhakrishnan, Director and CEO, TVS Motor Company said in a post earning call with analysts.
After delivering close to 43,000 units of the iQube in the March quarter, TVS claimed that the company is sitting on an order backlog of 30,000 units for the model. It will be ramping up production of the e-scooter shortly after suffering from a supply chain challenge in April when the industry found itself unprepared to switch over the new battery norms.
“TVS is focused on growth in building a credible volume base for EVs; the company plans for multiple new launches in electric two-wheelers and electric three-wheelers over next 4-6 quarters, which would strengthen the base for localisation and eventual margin improvement,” said a report from HSBC Global Research.
India two-wheeler market leader Hero MotoCorp will be breaking all its previous year’s record in introducing the number of new models into the market.
Speaking to analysts in a post earnings call, Niranjan Gupta, CEO, Hero MotoCorp, said, “The number of launches we will have this year will surpass the numbers of all the launches we did in previous years.” Gupta, however, declined to provide details about the number of launches the company is planning.
Also read: Nyobolt claims to cut down electric car charging time to minutes, demonstration in June
Besides the ramp up in production of its only electric model under the Vida brand, the Munjal promoted company is planning to launch the first joint venture motorcycle produced to be launched under the Harley-Davidson brand later this year.
Hero MotoCorp is strong in the rural pockets of the country with brands like Splendor and HF. Despite predictions of a poor monsoon this year, the company is hoping for continued investments in the rural areas to drive up demand.
