AUSTRALIAN-based publicly listed electric motorcycle company Vmoto has signed a deal to supply a minimum of 10,000 scooters worth about $13.8 million to Indian motorcycle distributor Bird Group.

The deal, subject to a satisfactory evaluation of Vmoto’s CUX and CUmini EV bike models, can be expanded with Vmoto stating there was potential given India was the world’s biggest petrol-fuelled motorcycle market.

Vmoto, centred in Perth but with a wholly owned manufacturing complex in China, has this month supplied 20 e-bikes to Bird to participate in a government-led trial for a planned ride-share project in New Delhi.

India has sold 92.9 million two-wheelers in the past five years, with 21m sales in 2019 and, because of COVID-19, a slip to 17.4m in 2020.

Bird Group subsidiary Bird Automotive is one of India’s biggest dealerships of BMW and Mini. It was also the country’s exclusive distributor of Segway Personal Transporters.

Vmoto managing director Charles Chen said his company had been in discussions with Bird Group “for quite some time and are confident this MOU represents the first step in establishing a long-term successful business relationship.”

“India is a market we have been researching heavily over the past 12 months and we believe our expansion into this market will be a tremendous success, with the potential to deliver exceptional growth over the coming years,” he said.

Vmoto said Indian government policies were increasingly supporting the adoption of two-wheel EVs.

“The potential to convert India’s current two-wheel ICE market to electric powered EV’s, represents an enormous opportunity for both Vmoto and the Bird Group,” the company said in an ASX statement.

“Vmoto’s industry experience and know-how in the two-wheel EV market combined with Bird’s reputation and local experience, means both groups are poised to benefit significantly from the relationship.”

The Indian deal with Bird Group follows Vmoto’s joint-venture agreement with partner Super Soco Intelligent Technology of Shanghai to establish a joint manufacturing company, Vmoto Super Soco Manufacturing.

The new agreement, formed with a $A6.4m contribution from each party, aims to boost purchasing power of e-bike components, expand R&D and streamline the supply chain processes.

Vmoto sells its bikes around the world through 46 distributors under the Vmoto, Super Soco and E-Max brand names. It also sells bikes that are rebranded for specific bike companies.

It had e-bike sales in calendar-year 2020 of 23,547 units, up 18 per cent on 2019. This produced revenue of $61m.

Vmoto showed a revenue for 2020 of $61m, up 34 per cent on 2019, and net profit after tax of $3.7m, up 174 per cent.

The sales included an order of 4300 e-bikes from Vmoto’s ride-share customer Go Sharing, part of GreenMo. The ride-share company has this year made an additional order of 5904 units.

Vmoto now supplies to ride-share companies, food delivery and parcel delivery firms as well as fleets and private buyers.

It supplies to seven ride-share operators around the world and said it is in “advanced discussions” with another 14 operators. It has 12 delivery customers and is talking now to a further 13.

 

By Neil Dowling