Ampere Vehicles, the e-mobility arm of Greaves Cotton and among the leading players in the e-two-wheeler and e-three-wheeler market has expanded its play in the last-mile mobility ecosystem in India. The company has acquired a strategic stake in L5 e-three-wheeler manufacturer, MLR Auto. Ampere will initially acquire a 26% stake in MLR through primary subscription, subject to completion of customary conditions and closing obligations, for consideration of Rs 18.81 crore.
According to BVR Subbu, chairman of Ampere Electric, “Our market research and analysis suggests that in the top 10 urban three-wheeler markets, passenger vehicles will shift rapidly to EVs and by 2024, 100% of the segment will be electric. This comes from an overwhelming consumer preference for quieter emission free vehicles as consumer habits evolve, particularly those relating to the mobile consumption of data and entertainment. At Ampere, we are getting ready to participate in this high growth segment with a range of affordable and reliable products.”
Speaking on this announcement, Nagesh A Basavanhalli, MD and Group CEO of Greaves Cotton and director of Ampere Electric, said, “With this strategic stake in MLR Auto, Ampere Electric gets ready to operate as full range, last-mile electric vehicle company with mass mobility solutions in both electric two- and three-wheelers. Our commitment to grow the clean last mile with wide variety of consumer friendly solutions continues to gather momentum.”
Speaking on joining hands with Ampere, Lokeswara Rao Mullapudi, director, MLR Auto stated, "We are excited to be part of the Ampere family as we both share a common vision to work towards sustainable and affordable mobility solutions. We are confident that our combined strengths will help achieve new milestones of growth in fast growing and promising space of electric vehicles."
Boom in last-mile mobility
Increasing urbanisation and exponential growth of e-commerce will spur last-mile delivery demand. Ampere is eyeing speedy growth in this field with application-specific solutions for B2B fleet logistics solutions. The company recently announced a mega investment in EV at Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, with a capacity of up to one million e-two-wheelers in phases and with a commitment to invest over Rs 700 crore.
Ampere recently announced a sales milestone of 100,000 electric vehicles across 400 towns.
The company has 500 exclusive retail touch-points for its e-two- and three-wheeler network. It is backed by Greaves’ India retail footprint of nearly 6,500 touchpoints; support of 12,000 mechanics and comprehensive Greaves Retail network backed by multi-brand sales, service & mobility enablement solutions.