Elon Musk has created a name for himself, with Tesla, the electric car company he founded, and with his aggressive, ambitious plans. Uday Narang, who is also a founder of an EV company, Omega Seiki Mobility (OSM), is no Elon Musk yet, but he wants to script a similar story from India. “If I pull it off, then I am Elon. If I don’t, then it’s my bad luck,” the aggressive and candid-speaking chairman and founder of OSM told ETAuto during a visit to Mumbai.
OSM, which operates in the electric three-wheeler space, plans to be present also in the segments of two-wheelers, passenger vehicles, trucks, and tractors, and all of them electric. He also targets markets beyond India. To carry out such ambitious plans, OSM plans to ramp up its human, technical, and financial resources. The number of engineers at its Faridabad R&D facility will be increased from the present 50, to 200 by the end of this year. “We are building a war room where all the data will flow in, and we’ll leverage big data for development”, Narang said.
Such ambitious plans for products and markets to fructify need huge funds. The 52-year-old former hedge fund manager Narang said that he is yet to raise funds even after spending “close to USD 100 million” of his own money even as “there are some people in this country who have raised billions and who are burning big money”. “I think we will raise money; we will raise investments through international alliances,” Narang said. Tapping the financial markets is also an option to raise funds.
Into e-truck and e2W space
The first new move OSM plans for this year is the entry into the electric truck space. The first product, a 3.5 tonner, is slated to be sent to customers next month. However, 3.5 tonne is not the sweet spot according to Narang. “My biggest interest and the sweet spot is the one and one-and-a-half tonne,” he said. With a planned manufacturing facility in Southern India, Narang said, “if needed” OSM will offer trucks up to 50 tonnes in GVW (Gross Vehicle Weight).
On the other end of the spectrum, in the two-wheeler segment, OSM plans to make a serious move by August. Now it has only two ‘slow-speed’ models which do not garner much volume. OSM’s entry into the gradually competitive electric two-wheeler market is planned through products and technology acquired through a joint venture with a South Korean company. “We are importing an entire South Korean plant,” revealed Narang. The plant is part of a proposed agreement with the Korean company, under which two-wheelers will be manufactured and exported to South Korea.
South Korea is also an engineering base for OSM. A technology centre in Daegu is part of the company’s network of such centres in Thailand, and Turkey. All of them are in partnership with local players. While the India technology centre will focus more on three-wheelers, small commercial vehicles, the ones overseas will be tapped for vehicles in other segments. “I’m playing technology, I’m playing last mile, I’m playing an overall integrated play nobody has done. Now, that’s a challenge,” he said. This indeed is a challenge and OSM needs to put tremendous efforts to pull it off successfully.
International markets
Critical scale is crucial for success, and that’s a factor for which OSM plans to be present in different markets. According to Narang, OSM has firmed up plans in seven countries so far. “We have signed with Bangladesh, and the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council). Testing will start soon. Once they are through, we’ll put up the first electric company in the GCC. No, I won’t be the first, I’ll be second because Lucid (Motors) has already announced it with Saudi Arabia. We are making a global cargo play,” he said. A factory is also planned in Egypt, where OSM said it struck a deal for supplying two and three-wheelers to a leading delivery service provider. OSM plans to set up a production facility in Rwanda too. The Philippines is also part of the plan to tap the ASEAN markets.
With the major plans discussed and finalised in the Boardroom, OSM has to deliver on them and prove itself. In Narang’s words, “Rubber has to meet the road and profit.” As for its main existing business of three-wheelers, OSM is bullish on claiming the top sales spot in the L5 category this month, and by the end the financial year as the number three player in the segment.
A boxing practitioner who also wants to be a “disruptor”, Narang is currently in an investment mode. Customers and markets will decide if OSM can script a David Vs Goliath kind of a story, as the biggies also are joining the EV game.
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The agreement with MAW Vriddhi, the second largest automobile group in Nepal, will also mark OSM’s entry into the Himalayan nation, it added.
Many OEMs have gone far ahead in the electrification of this segment of the automotive industry. Industry experts in a panel discussion at ETAuto EV Conclave 2022 said the three-wheeler electrification may reach 40% by 2025 and even 70% by 2030.
