More Stories

Informist, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025

 

By Sagar Sen and Priyasmita Dutta

 

NEW DELHI – VE Commercial Vehicles' newly launched electric light-to-medium commercial vehicle – Pro X – may come off as too expensive, but according to the company's Chief Executive Officer Vinod Aggarwal, the spending on the truck will be lower than diesel vehicles over five years because of its affordable operating expenses. "If we include the (EMI) equated monthly instalment and operating cost, customer's total cost over 5 years will come down, even if the acquisition cost is higher," Aggarwal told Informist.

 

The company has forayed into last-mile connectivity with the launch of the new electric light-to-medium commercial vehicle. The vehicle was launched at the Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025 in Delhi.

 

While he did not spell out the ex-showroom price of the truck, he said it would be 1.5 to 1.6 times the cost of a diesel truck of similar specifications. The new electric truck will be available for bookings immediately. With the hope that the new product will see a steady uptick in the Indian electric vehicle market, the production capacity of PRO X will be 40,000 in the next two years, he said. 

 

VE Commercial Vehicles is a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors for commercial vehicles. 

 

Aggarwal said that while the Union government has taken steps to incentivise the electric vehicle sector, there is a case to do more. "Of course, as of now, the PLI scheme will be there... we are covered under it, but we have not gained much from the e-DRIVE scheme... these kinds of trucks are not eligible for the scheme," he said. 

 

The government announced the production-linked incentive scheme for the automobile sector in September 2021 with a total outlay of INR 259.38 billion till 2027-28 (Apr-Mar). There has been no disbursal under the scheme so far. The gestation period of the scheme was initially set to end in FY23 and disbursal was supposed to begin from FY24. 

 

The PM e-Drive scheme, on the other hand, was notified on Sept. 29 to provide impetus to the green mobility and development of the electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem in the country. The scheme has an outlay of INR 109 billion up to March 2026.

 

In terms of growth, the company is expecting to do better than its peers. "The last quarter is likely to be better for the industry... we have done better than the industry," Aggarwal said. The company expects exports to pick up over the next few months as the situation is improving in West Asia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

 

"As of now it (export) is around 500 a month, but of course, at the peak in 2018-19 when the export market was good, it was 10,000 vehicles. And now we have entered more markets as well," he said. 

 

"Our traditional markets in Southeast Asia are down very heavily. The Bangladesh market had dropped by 85%. Similarly, Nepal had dropped by 90%. But it has started picking up," Aggarwal said. He also said there is a lot of scope in newer markets like other Southeast Asian countries and Latin America.

 

The company's market share in heavy-duty trucks is 10%, while in light and medium-duty trucks the company has more than 35% market share, he said. "We are always aspiring to do better to improve our market share," Aggarwal said.

 

On Friday, shares of Eicher Motors ended 0.7% lower at INR 5012.30 on the National Stock Exchange.  End

 

Edited by Saji George Titus

 

For users of real-time market data terminals, Informist news is available exclusively on the NSE Cogencis WorkStation.

 

Cogencis news is now Informist news. This follows the acquisition of Cogencis Information Services Ltd by NSE Data & Analytics Ltd, a 100% subsidiary of the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd. As a part of the transaction, the news department of Cogencis has been sold to Informist Media Pvt Ltd.

 

Informist Media Tel +91 (11) 4220-1000

Send comments to feedback@informistmedia.com

 

© Informist Media Pvt. Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.