Chennai-based electric scooter (e-scooter) manufacturer BSA Motors is planning to increase its production capacity to 25,000 units from the current 2,000 over the next 12 months.
BSA Motors vice-president KB Srinivasan said the growth would come through geographical expansion, improved sales network and marketing support.
The company plans to invest around Rs 28 crore, of which Rs 15 crore would be in R&D and painting facilities and Rs 12-13 crore in dealership (including sales, service and sell spare parts) and marketing, he said. Besides, it would add 120 dealers over the next six months and is targeting Rs 80 crore sales in 2009-10.
As part of its localisation programme, BSA Motors would increase the vendor base to 27 from the current 15, which would enable it to achieve 70 per cent localisation from the 20 per cent now over the next 12 months.
The company expects these measures to help it capture 10-15 per cent share of the e-scooter market in the country during the current fiscal, which is expected to touch Rs 500 crore from Rs 400 crore last year, said Srinivasan.
The number of e-scooters sold in 2008-09 was around 110,000 and nearly 80 per cent of the sales came from Tier II and III cities. In 2009-10, the industry expects to sell 150,000 units.
The company is also looking at entering new international markets including Sri Lanka and Nepal in 2009-10, followed by Africa in 2010-11.
BSA entered the e-scooter segment last May and started manufacturing from its Ambattur facility. Last year, the company sold 2,000 units with 30 dealers in south India.