BGauss Auto to invest Rs 40 cr to double electric two-wheeler manufacturing

Electric two-wheeler maker BGauss Auto Pvt Ltd plans to invest around Rs 40 crore to double production capacity to 2 lakh units annually by next year, according to a top company official.

The company plans to have five to six products in the high-speed electric scooters segment after two years. It is also eyeing around 8-10 per cent of the fast-growing electric two-wheeler market in three years' time.

"This year we are targeting (to sell) around 80,000 to 1 lakh vehicles," BGauss Auto Founder and Managing Director Hemant Kabra told PTI.

He further said the company's manufacturing plant at Chakan in Pune has an annual capacity of one lakh units at present and can be scaled up to 2 lakh units. With plans to sell around 1 lakh units in the ongoing fiscal, BGauss Auto is now gearing up to increase its capacity to meet future demand.

Asked about investment on capacity enhancement, he said, "We will be investing close to around Rs 40 crore."

In terms of funding, having raised Rs 52 crore in April this year, Kabra said, "At this point in time, we are adequately capitalised."

On the product side, he said the company currently has two products in the market -- low speed scooter A2 and a high speed B8. This month, it has launched its third model D15 in two variants priced at Rs 99,999 and Rs 1.15 lakh (ex-showroom) respectively, and the deliveries will start in June.

"We are going to launch one more product in this financial year. So, there will be four products that we will have in our portfolio in this financial year," he added.

He further said, "We have also started designing a product for (launch around) next year Diwali."

The company will have a "total five to six products after two years" which are focussed on high-speed electric scooter segment, he added.

Commenting on the ambitions of the company, Kabra said the electric two-wheeler segment will expand exponentially and BGauss Auto will "target close to anything between 8 per cent to 10 per cent" of the market in the next three years.

BGauss Auto is also accelerating its network expansion to fuel its growth.

"Currently we have close to 100 dealerships, 52 are active and 48 will be active by next one month...We are targeting that by March 2023, we should have close to 250 dealerships in 160-odd cities," Kabra said.

Asked if the company planned to expand beyond two-wheelers in the electric vehicles segment, he said, "For next three years we are going to be sticking to two-wheelers.