Hero MotoCorp, a manufacturer of two-wheelers, is looking forward to launch an electric model in 2022 and mark its entry into the segment.
Bullish on the electric vehicle (EV) vertical, the company is utilising its Jaipur (Rajasthan) and Stephanskirchen (Germany) based research and development (R&D) setups to develop its own products.
Besides, it has tied up with Taiwan-based Gogoro to bring the latter's battery swapping platform to India. The partners have also decided to collaborate on e-vehicle development to bring Hero-branded, powered by Gogoro network vehicles to the market.
The company is trying to launch one of the EV products in FY22, and you will see multiple activities, whether it is company’s own product or a swap product or with Gogoro. All of those activities will take place in 2022.
In order to tap the segment, the two-wheeler maker has already invested in Bengaluru-based EV startup Ather Energy, which already has introduced models in the market.
The company's Germany and Jaipur-based R&D centres have been working to develop products based on fixed charging system. The Gogoro partnership on the other hand is focusing on the swap-based system.
The tie-up with the Taiwan-based firm could also help the company to strengthen its own product development programme.
The company had embarked on this premium strategy in terms of filling the portfolio right across all the CCs and all the segments. The pandemic has had no impact on the company's product roll-out plans.
As of now, all its launch pipeline plans for the next three to five years are same.