New Delhi and Mumbai

As part of Hero’s growth and expansion plans to cater to the ever-growing demand for EVs in the country, Hero Electric has entered into a collaborative agreement with the Mahindra Group. 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 utilise 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.

Hero Electric is one of the oldest and India's largest electric two-wheeler company and has been at the forefront of the electric 2-wheeler industry. The company’s manufacturing unit is in Ludhiana, and it sells a wide range of electric scooters catering to a wide spectrum of customers. Hero Electric currently has over 750 (and rapidly expanding) sales and service outlets spread across the country along with a widespread charging network and trained roadside mechanics on EVs. It has a lot of firsts in the industry ranging from developing and launching the first lithium ion based electric scooters in India to launching the unique concept of charging stations for anywhere, everywhere charging. With over 4.5 lakh electric two-wheelers in India, the company has been delivering sustainable travel solutions over the past 15 years and counting & has played a crucial role in developing and promoting the EV market in the country.