Small German Firm Has Big Plans For India

India, compared to several countries from Europe and the Americas, has been late in joining the push towards electrified mobility but has set a super ambitious goal of an all electric transportation setup by 2030 for itself. The goal is surely attracting many players to invest in developing localised electric vehicles (EV) with maximum domestic sourcing of the required technology. As per a report by ET Auto, one such company, called Magnum Pirex, has been chatting with the Government of Andhra Pradesh (AP) to set up a manufacturing base.

An initial investment of reportedly Rs 100 crore will help the company to produce battery operated sports cars, family cars and small trucks under the Rs 10 lakh mark. That is one astonishing figure from a company that many of us have never even heard of before.

The German company is reportedly seeking 22 acres of land, which is in close proximity to the port to import goods. Once it completes the setup, the company proposes to produce 12,000-15,000 EVs per year. The number can go up to 1 lakh units per annum, depending on how the market responds to its products.

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Magnum Pirex is a small German start up that has, up until now, never produced an EV. That said, the company has experience in developing and manufacturing products required for EV infrastructure such as testing stations and quality control equipment for fuel cells. The company is also capable of providing system integration and engineering services for fuel cells and e-mobility. For such a company, India can be a great place to gain traction in building EVs because only a handful automakers are practicing it.

As of now, the AP government has suggested the company to lay out a detailed project report to take the proposal forward. This will not be the first time that AP government has attracted an automotive manufacturer to its shores. Many other players already have their production facilities there, including Isuzu, Kia Motors and Hero MotoCorp. 

In a push for a faster adoption of EVs in the country, Japanese automaker Toyota recently inked an MoU with the AP government to jointly study the feasibility of introducing the Prius PHEV and small EV commuter in the Amaravathi smart city project. On the other hand, Tata Motors, Mahindra, Toyota and Suzuki are some of the major carmakers who have the technology and are surely working towards making it feasible for the mass market.

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