Kabira Mobility has announced that it has secured a $50 million (approximately INR 412 crore) investment from its strategic investor, Al-Abdulla Group (Qatar). Earlier, the company noted that INR 300 crore, part of the current funding, will be invested in setting up a manufacturing plant at Jawar, UP.
Speaking to Mobility Outlook, Jaibir Siwach, CEO, Kabira Mobility, noted that the land for the facility at Jawar, which will have a monthly capacity of 1.25 lakh units per month, will be allotted to the company by April 2023 and the construction will begin in July. The trial production starts in early 2024 before moving into full-fledged production in FY25.
Besides creating a new facility, the company plans to revamp its existing facility at the Dharwad plant in Karnataka from the current 4.8 lakh unit capacity to 7.2 lakh units a year by adding four assembly lines and transitioning to Industry 4.0 automation levels.
The CEO said that the capacity expansion aligns with the future demand that the company anticipates. He added that Kabira Mobility has in talks with the Goenka Group in UP and Delhi NCR to deliver 10,000 e2Ws while discussions with UP police is also underway.
Besides these facility upgrades, the investment will also aid the company in other aspects. Starting with touchpoints, Siwach said that the company plans to have a dealership network of more than 100 by December 2023.
With the current 30 dealerships, the company is present in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi, while with the expansion, it plans to expand its presence in North India, he confirmed. Initially, the company will target the metro cities before moving to Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities.
The CEO said these dealerships, which the company terms ‘experience centre’ will cater to end-to-end solutions for the consumers, from deliveries of the vehicles to servicing of these vehicles. Interestingly, Kabira Mobility has partnered with Deloitte to choose dealership partners.
Meanwhile, with the new investments, the company is considering expanding its team, especially the R&D team. Siwach noted that the idea is to increase the core team size at its R&D centre from 32 to 50 by the end of this year.
Besides, the company also plans to launch a slew of products starting with a cruiser bike, KM5000, with a top speed of 188 kmph and a claimed range of 300 kms, which is slated to be unveiled by April 2023. Besides, the company plans to upgrade its current KM3000 and the KM4000 with Pro models in the lineup with a mid-motor setup allowing for an increased speed and range.
Meanwhile, an EV competitor for the 100cc ICE bikes is also underway from the company, which will be unveiled sometime this year. The company believes that the b2c products will be the key to the EV market and hence focuses primarily on the bikes, the CEO explained.
The company also offers a b2b product, the Hermes 75. Going forward, it plans to launch a new b2b scooter with a triple wheel setup, 150 kgs payload and an enhanced motor setup. The vehicle maker is also eyeing to enter the LCV market by December 2023. The new LCV from the company will feature a quad motor setup and will have a maximum payload capacity of 200 kgs, Siwach confirmed.
With these expansion plans across products, teams, dealerships and production facilities, the company also aims to enter international markets with the new set of funding, starting with the Qatar market before moving on to other African markets.
The Kabira Mobility chief noted that initially, the company plans to export its b2c products to the international markets, where the new plant at Jawar will act as the key export hub. However, this plant will only export the components for the products while a new assembly facility in Qatar will be set up to cater to the market.
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