Gurugram-based Eicher Motors will also nominate a director to the board of Spain-based e-motorcycle maker Stark Future
Amid the ever-increasing craze for EVs, India-based Eicher Motors announced this week that it will invest Rs 441.43 crore and acquire a 10.35% equity stake in an electric motorcycle maker Stark Future. Notably, this Spain-based e-bike manufacturer Stark Future recently launched its first high-performance electric motocross bike ‘Stark Varg’.
The parent of Royal Enfield, Eicher mentioned in a statement that the investment is aimed at forming a long-term partnership between the two firms for collaborative research and development in electric two-wheelers, technology sharing, technical licensing and manufacturing.
It is interesting to note that the competitor Hero MotoCorp earlier this year announced that it would invest in California-based Zero Motorcycles to jointly develop electric motorcycles.
As per the official release, Eicher Motors will also nominate a director to the board of Stark Future. The company’s MD, Siddhartha Lal stated: “We love the vision, passion and focus of the amazing team at Stark Future. Leisure motorcycles do not easily lend themselves to EV technology at this stage due to challenges like the battery range, packaging, weight and cost. This has resulted in stunted growth of this segment till now. Stark Future has been able to understand and harness the potential of EV technology by dramatically outperforming ICE offerings, without compromising on the range, weight, packaging and cost.”
To partner with one of the very first motorcycle brands in history and be part of their journey towards sustainability is a huge inspiration for us, said the founder and CEO of Stark Future. “With the Stark Varg we believe we have a launch model that will reset benchmarks, so to know that the bike’s technical basis will spread much further and filter into more machinery and products is another source of pride for us. It has been a short, intense and incredible journey for us so far but our link with Royal Enfield and what lies in store in the coming years are brilliant signs for the future.”
In a stock exchange filing, Eicher stated, “This investment will pave the way for a long-term partnership in collaborative research and development in electric motorcycles, technology sharing, technical licensing, and manufacturing.”
Royal Enfield CEO B Govindarajan pointed out that the company saw immense synergies in the partnership with Stark Future. He noted: “While they are scaling up and planning their market entry soon, we will support Stark in the industrialisation process. While they are thought leaders in EV technology, particularly in light-weight components and innovative solutions, we at Royal Enfield will draw on these capabilities for developing our EV platforms and will also plan to share some EV platforms in the future.”
Stark Future is a Spanish electric motorcycle manufacturer with a specific focus on the area of performance electric motorcycles.
