Chennai based automotive manufacturer; Ashok Leyland Ltd. (ALL) has decided to support its electric vehicle arm Switch Mobility towards a global EV platform
“Switch Mobility is an important initiative and we reiterate our commitment to developing it as a global electric vehicle company, “said Executive Chairman Dheeraj Hinduja.
“So far, we have been successful in establishing the name and platform as a credible EV manufacturer in the industry. In India, we are growing our sales pipeline quickly and delivering competitive products,” he said.
The firm was focusing on India and the U.K. markets, he said and added that Switch Mobility had displayed its new electric European bus named E1.
“So, Europe becomes a big market for us. But we are seeing interest from certain Middle Eastern markets as well. So, in due course, after Europe, we will be focusing on the Middle East markets,” he said.
Hinduja said that the firm was in talks with several investors to raise $200-250 million for developing new products and the deal was likely to be announced soon. The dilution due to fresh infusion of capital from this round would not be more than 15%, he added.
He also said that Switch Mobility had plans to unveil the much-awaited products in the LCV segment by the middle of next year and hinted that Switch might go in for collaboration on the battery side and for charging infrastructure.
Director and CFO Gopal Mahadevan said that ALL was the only firm to have gained market share in Q2.
“There are a lot of opportunities in the bus segment. Light commercial vehicles are expected to do much better in the second half. We will deliver CNG buses when the market is ready,” he said.
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