BSE-listed Gujarat-based electric vehicle manufacturer, Wardwizard innovation known for its electric two-wheeler Joy E-Bike is on an expansion spree. The company will soon bring passenger electric three-wheelers, launch four new electric scooters and build a new facility as part of its expansion plans, a top executive told Mobility Outlook in an exclusive interaction.
The electric vehicle manufacturer sold 8,000 units of e2W in FY21 and aims to sell 38,000 units in the ongoing fiscal year. To bolster this, the company is currently developing four new high-speed electric scooters and passenger electric three-wheelers which are undergoing homologation and certification.
Yatin Gupte, Chairman and Managing Director, WarWizard, said, “Our aim for this year is to clock about INR 175 crore in revenues. For this, we are planning to launch four new high-speed electric two-wheelers and passenger electric three-wheelers. All these vehicles will fall under FAME-II and the recently announced state subsidy,” added Gupte.
To manufacture electric three-wheelers, the company is looking to build a new 40,000 square metre facility alongside its existing facility, assembling 150,000 e2Ws annually.
Gupte said the company will invest INR 150 to 175 crore to expand the manufacturing infrastructure and launch new products. Out of which, it is aiming to raise about INR 100 crore from the investors.
Reverse engineering
Until 2015, the company was manufacturing electric bicycles and started importing e2W from China and Korea. Then, Gupte set up a team of nine people in the R & D and started localising plastic parts and child parts. Gradually, by 2017-18, Warwizard managed to reduce the imports to 40%. He said that cell and battery parts are imported, which will stand true for all companies manufacturing electric vehicles.
However, Gupte added that the company tried to solve the biggest challenge of charging batteries. The company believes that there is a need to have removable and swappable batteries which can be charged at any home, as there is a lot of parking crunch in Indian cities, and so is charging infrastructure.
Unique Network Strategy
The company took a unique approach of onboarding new business people as the dealers who are not related to or never worked in the auto industry, unlike OEMs who only consider a dealer application of a person already associated with some automotive brands.
“We wanted to make new entrepreneurs who want to enter the automotive industry but don’t have prior experience. So we have 80% of dealers from small cities and towns. We are primarily targeting the rural market. This has helped to garner more numbers,” added Gupte.
The company has 850+ dealers PAN India.