Murugappa Group to enter EV business, launch three-wheelers by Sept

Murugappa Group will also manufacture electric tractors this year through subsidiary

The Murugappa Group will launch an electric three-wheeler brand called Montra by September and invest Rs 200 crore in the segment, said a senior executive on Monday.

The electric vehicles (EV) business comes under TI Clean Mobility (TCM), a fully-owned subsidiary of Tube Investments of India (TII), the makers of bicycle brands like BSA and Hercules and part of the Murugappa Group.

TCM will this year manufacture electric tractors through Cellestial E-Mobility, where the group bought a controlling stake of 70 per cent for Rs 161 crore.

“Montra electric three-wheelers will be launched by August-September this year. For electric three-wheelers we will be investing around Rs 200 crore,” said Arun Murugappan, executive chairman of Tube Investments. Montra will be launched both in passenger and cargo segments.

Murugappan said that the company expects the electric three-wheeler market to touch $1.7 billion by 2025. The company will manufacture Montra three wheelers at its Ambattur facility in Chennai and tractors separately on the outskirts of the city.

“The initial capacity for three-wheelers will be around 75,000 units per year. To start, we will be having distributions at around 40 locations and will be increased to 100 locations by the end of this year,” Murugappan said. The company is exploring more growth opportunities in the electric vehicle segment and the new subsidiary TI Clean Mobility will be coming out with three products soon. The company chose the name Montra as it is already having e-bikes under the same name and want to continue with the brand.

The company said Cellestial offers several advantages for electric tractors plan, like swappable battery, regenerative brakes, power inversion, and charging from a residential AC outlet.

Murugappan said the company’s focus on the domestic market for its EV products and it has entered into strategic partners for the supply of components. “All our components will be sourced locally. To ensure semiconductor availability too, we are working with strategic partners,” said Murugappan.

The advantage with TII as an EV player will be an established supply chain of 3500 direct dealer points for bicycles and 190 exclusive retail outlets under the brand ‘Track & Trail’, that the company can make use of in the initial stages of its EV foray.