Hero Electric has announced a partnership with M&M to manufacture EVs and under this joint venture, Mahindra will manufacture the most popular Hero Electric’s Optima scooter at its production plant situated at Pritampura in Madhya Pradesh.
With this step, Mahindra will gain experience in manufacturing electric two-wheelers as well as Hero will be able to fulfil the demand for an annual production of 1 million units along with the expansion of its existing facility in Ludhiana. At present, Mahindra only has the experience of manufacturing electric 3-wheelers and 4-wheelers but soon after this collaboration, the company will be able to jump into the electric 2-wheeler segment as well.
In an interview MD of Hero Electric, Mr Naveen Munjal stated, "To further deepen its roots and strengthen the leadership, Hero Electric has announced a partnership with the Mahindra Group, which is leading the EV transition in the electric three and four-wheelers space."
This alliance of two giant industries will lead to the enhancement in the manufacturing skills and ability to complete the demand slots and to reach the country’s centre through Mahindra’s robust supply chain, he added. Mahindra is already in partnership with Peugeot Motorcycles and the Hero and M&M collaboration will help Mahindra to polish its product portfolio as well.
Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto & Farm Sectors, Mahindra & Mahindra mentioned that the company Peugeot Motorcycles too has several plans in the EV manufacturing and supply in Europe and various other regions of the world and this planned collaboration will provide with a privilege of joint development and platform sharing facility which will grease the efforts and leading it to strengthen it up. Mahindra Group owns the France-based Peugeot Motorcycles.