Interview with Ayush Lohia
CEO, Lohia Auto
Date:
12 Sep 2017
| Author: P.Tharyan
Can you give us some
details about your plant in Kashipur where UM motorcycles are being
manufactured?
The production line here has a capacity to manufacture
60,000 units per annum in a single shift which can be further expanded to two
shifts and we can increase our capacity to 100,000 units per annum. By
extending the time line and by increasing the number of workers, we can easily
increase our production without making any major investment. We have a chassis
and a PDI dynamometer where we can test a fully built bike. We test the
lighting, the braking system, the efficiency of the engine, and then also test
the emission.
What are the
localisation levels of these bikes?
We have more than 35% of localisation. By the end of the
year we shall be doing around 50% of localisation. We are taking the “Make in
India” initiative very seriously. There are multiple locations from where we
import our components. UM International is present in more than 20 nations. We
import from wherever we get the best quality of product s. We import the engine
and gear box and also sheet metal components. As far as the localisation is
concerned, we will be now starting with sheet metal components like fuel tanks
and fenders. These are the major chunk, and apart from this we are going to
start painting in India. By 2019 we shall start manufacturing engine and gear
box in India.
What about setting up
a greenfield facility?
As I told you, the
capacity of the plant is 60,000 units per annum on single shift and around
100,000 per annum in double shift. What we anticipate is that by 2019-20, we
shall be at an optimal level of manufacturing and hence we are planning a greenfield
facility either in south India or in the west. From there we can also cater to
the export market.
Do you see this
present relationship between Lohia Auto and UM International growing stronger
in the coming years?
As far as making this venture stronger, we are already in
discussion where we can get some more product line into India and also looking
at expansion of this category into other segments like the scooter segment,
sport segment or maybe even off road segment. These kind of opportunities we
are already exploring with UM International. We hope to see more products under
the UM brand.
Lohia Auto is known
for its electric vehicles. Now you are into an IC engine based vehicle. Where
do you see this company growing?
Yes, very rightly said, we started with electric vehicles
and now we have added IC engine based vehicles. When we started in 2008-09 we
anticipated that the industry will move faster where electric vehicles are
concerned. It has been relatively slow along with its acceptability and
infrastructure requirements are high. We entered the industry with a lot of
zeal and we did not want to exit this industry. We found a venture that is
promising and we have found synergies between UM and Lohia Auto. But definitely
electric vehicle is the future. We are looking exploring other options where we
can get into a faster mode of adopting electric vehicles in India. But electric
vehicles in India will definitely grow and it is the future.
When do we see a fast
paced electric two wheeler from Lohia Auto?
As you know electric vehicles are in very nascent stage in
India. A lot of things are missing. We do not have a lithium ion battery
manufacturing plant in India. The expertise on electric motors is very limited.
To explore that option much more we are already looking for ventures and
frankly speaking we are focussing a lot on electric vehicles as a different
vertical, moving forward. That is an area we would like to grow, along with our
venture with UM and expand our business in IC engines as well as electric
vehicles...... As a group, we are definitely inclined toward electric vehicles.
That is the future. Our journey started
with electric vehicles.
