Matter Motor Works plans to launch one electric bike annually over next 3 years

Electric motorcycle maker Matter Motor Works plans to launch one new model every year in the next three years as it looks to accelerate volume growth, its Co-founder and Group COO, Arun Pratap Singh, said on Thursday.

The Ahmedabad-based company, which on Thursday launched its geared electric bike AERA in the Delhi market, plans to open up to 60 dealerships across the country this fiscal, with the majority of them in South India, Singh told PTI.

"There are products planned, at least a new launch every year. So that's what we can see for the next three years," he said when asked about the company's product pipeline.

He said the company is focusing on electric motorcycles only at present and is not looking at electric scooters "as of now".

On the company's first model AERA, he said, "We took almost six years to develop the vehicle. We started deliveries in October last year."

The company had confined sales in the Ahmedabad market for the first six months to study consumer feedback and made "small tinkering", he noted.

"Now we are moving across India to start deliveries," Singh said.

On sales network expansion, he said, "We are ramping up. We are planning to set up almost 30 dealerships by August, and we should be closing almost 50 to 60 dealerships by this financial year's end."

He further said, "From the distribution side, we have a larger presence coming up in South India. Out of the 30 dealerships (by August), 20 dealerships will be coming in the South."

The segment in which the company is present is more popular in South India, he noted.

In terms of sales, Singh said, "We intend to close around 10,000 vehicles in the first year. Second year, it should be around 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles and beyond that, it is difficult to project."

The company's manufacturing unit in Ahmedabad has a capacity to roll out 10,000 units a month.

When asked about investments, he said the company is utilising funds of up to $80 million that it has already raised.

Singh reiterated that Matter is looking to raise a further $200 million in the next couple of years before it looks for an initial public offering in three to four years’ time.

When asked about supply constraints of rare earth magnets, he said that currently, the company is in talks with its partners in China to resolve the issue.

"But parallelly, we are also looking at alternatives so that we do not get into this kind of situation next time," Singh said.

Stating that there are companies outside the Chinese region which have permanent magnets without rare earth minerals, he said, "We have started talking to them and the results will come out soon."