UM Lohia plans to drive in new bikes, expand sales network

UM Motorcycles, the joint venture between US-based UM International and Lohia Auto, plans to launch new models, including electric bikes, and expand sales network as part of its plans to expand business in the country.

The company is also working to enhance its production capacity by setting up a new plant in Hyderabad, which would be mainly utilised to cater to the demand from southern and western regions.

"In September this year we plan to launch a 230 cc bike. Before that we will also launch two variants of existing products. Over the next two years we plan to launch a 450cc and a 650cc bike. So by 2020 we will have a product portfolio ranging from 230 cc to 650 cc," UM Lohia Two Wheelers CEO Rajeev Mishra told PTI.

The company currently sells four products -- Renegade Commando Classic, Renegade Commando Mojave, Renegade Commando and Renegade Sports S in the country, priced between Rs 1.59 lakh and Rs 1.95 lakh (ex-showroom).

Mishra said that in order to cater to enhanced demand and to take care of logistics issue, the company is investing around Rs 50 crore in the initial stage to come up with a new manufacturing plant in Hyderabad.

The new plant, with an installed capacity of 50,000 units per annum, would be operational by February next year taking the company's total production capacity to 80,000 units per annum.

"Currently, we need to supply bikes to southern and western regions from our Kashipur (Uttarakhand) plant which is both time consuming and adds to cost. The new plant would help take care of this issue," Mishra said.

The company, which sold 9,800 units last financial year, plans to sell around 15,000 units in the current financial year.

"To achieve this target, we also plan to expand our sales network. Over the next three months we plan to take the number of dealerships to 100 from the current 78 outlets. The idea is to cover tier I and tier II cities," Mishra said.

When asked about company's plans regarding electric vehicles, he added that the UM Lohia has already introduced an electric cruiser bike --Renegade Thor.

"We are currently importing the bike from Italy as a completely built unit (CBU). Over the next one year we plan to look at ways to increase localisation of the product here. Localisation is the key as it will bring the cost down. If we achieve some progress then we can look at bringing some more products to the country," Mishra said.

US-based UM International, LLC and Lohia Auto had joined hands in September 2014 to form UM Lohia Two-Wheelers Pvt Ltd (UML).