Hero Electric to ramp up dealerships

Hero Electric, the wholly owned arm of the Hero Group, has said that it plans to ramp up its dealership network in the south in an attempt to leverage the growth happening in the electric vehicle (EV) segment.  The company aims at unveiling a new range of electric scooters in the low and high speed EV category. The company has also announced an investment of around Rs 80 crore in boosting its manufacturing plant of electric vehicles (EVs) in Ludhiana, Punjab besides the development of its R&D facility. Hero Electric has also expanded its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Ludhiana and dramatically stepping up research and development for innovation in EVs. Hero Electric will also be investing on training the dealers to educate the consumers on the benefits and features of electric Vehicles.

The company has said that it has already identified the southern states as high-potential territories for its electric vehicles and foresees accelerated growth in these markets. “We are doubling our dealership network in the South to reach out to a wider segment of people not only in big cities but also in Tier II towns, where our electric vehicles are increasingly gaining popularity. We have also set aside a marketing budget to train our dealers to educate customers on this relatively new and green technology, which has a running cost of 10 paisa per km,” an official was quoted as saying.

“Hero is committed to prioritizing low-polluting transport systems and has stepped up its research in areas that involve zero pollution. Electric Vehicles will bring about a significant shift in the way the world will travel in the future as they are cost effective and environmental friendly. While Hero Electric already has two successful Low Speed Electric Scooter models in the market – Hero Maxi & Hero Optima, we will soon be introducing a new range of Electric Scooters in the High Speed category as well,” he said.

Hero Electric has set up a state-of-the-art R&D cell at Ludhiana and at Delhi to develop and manufacture indigenous world-class EV motors within a year to suit both high-speed and low-speed vehicles. It is also conducting research to improve the quality, efficiency and life of batteries and other critical components that run these EVs. A high level R&D team with vast global experience in the segment has been put in place and will work on the EV indigenous motor technology, particularly on enhanced performance and speed.