Bajaj Auto is expected to establish a new brand catering to the upcoming range of electric two- and three-wheelers
It is no secret that the electric two-wheeler segment is being targeted as the next big thing by manufacturers and thus plenty of activity is going on behind the curtain. The imminent arrival of the Ola electric scooter, which is said to have an aggressive price range, might speed up new launches as the brand vows to make a strong impact with hefty investment.
According to a recent report that surfaced on the interweb, Bajaj Auto, which already revived the Chetak nameplate for a zero-emission scooter and is currently expanding its footprint across major cities, is looking at establishing a standalone subsidiary for EVs. Similar speculations came up before the debut of the Chetak through the Urbanite brand though.
However, this time around, Bajaj informed BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) that its board of directors have approved such a bit at a meeting held. The statement said, “The wholly-owned subsidiary will leverage the growth opportunities in the evolving mobility space and will help the company venture into the manufacturing of electric and hybrid vehicles in the two, three and four-wheelers category,”.
It is worth noting that the Chakan-based has announced the introduction of electrified three-wheelers and quadricycles this fiscal as well. While we do not know the name of the new vertical, it is subjected to approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and it will have a proposed capital of Rs. 100 crore. The subsidiary could pertain to electric as well as hybrid vehicles across different segments.
Bajaj Auto’s main competitors Hero MotoCorp and TVS Motor Company have revealed big investments towards electric mobility and recently central and state governments announced a host of benefits to boost EV sales. Moreover, the steep increase in petrol prices would not do any favour either as buyers are constantly looking at viable alternatives.
TVS Motor Company, in particular, will invest Rs. 1,000 crore towards electrification and it has announced to launch over six EVs in the next two years. The company has 500 to 600 engineers working on different concepts and upcoming electric two and three-wheelers are expected to carry batteries in the range of 5-25 kW.