Hero Electric signs MOU with State Bank of India

 The partnership will allow Hero Electric to offer inventory financing to its dealers

MOU will assist the dealers better manage their cash flows and in turn sell more electric vehicles

by Shrutee K/DNS

New Delhi: Biggest electric vehicle brand in India, Hero Electric today announced its partnership with State Bank of India – India’s leading public sector bank – to offer its dealer network inventory financing solutions. This strategic partnership will allow Hero Electric to widen its reach in the country, thereby extending its PAN India customer base.

In line with Hero Electric’s 2020 goal to have 1000 dealerships across the country, the MOU will allow existing dealers to invest more and encourage new dealers to sprout across the country. Furthermore, this association will help the brand aims to popularize electric vehicles in India and is certain that providing inventory financing schemes to its dealers will help them better manage their cash flows and in turn sell more electric vehicles; which is central to Hero Electric’s long term goal.

“Our dealer network is one of the most valued assets and we intend to support them across all facets of the business. We are pleased to have SBI as our partner and we are confident that their expertise and nationwide presence will allow our dealer network to seamlessly expand their business and manage cashflows through attractive rates on inventory financing. Moreover, it will empower the dealers to cater to a wider customer base and achieve their sales target efficiently.” said Mr. Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric.

Mr. P.K. Gupta, MD (Retail & Digital banking), SBI said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Hero Electric who are the pioneers in promoting clean and emission free mobility. Lending support to the brand’s widespread dealer network will allow the brand to access SBI’s PAN India network for best financing solutions to its dealers across India. Through this MOU, we as the leading bank of India will also be contributing to the government’s vision of adopting green mobility”.

Building a strong financial ecosystem has been pivotal to Hero Electric’s core values. The partnership with SBI stems from the brand’s goal to enable its dealers to offer the customers attractive financing options and flexible payment period on the purchase of Hero Electric vehicles across the country. This move will help the brand’s products make inroads in tier 3 and tier 4 markets and raise awareness around electric mobility.

Hero Electric will continue to innovate in this space and lead electric mobility in the country and has robust plans to take its current 620 touchpoints to 1000 by end of 2020 and make the brand accessible even in the most interior parts of the country. The company has aggressive investment plans in the next three years to ramp up production capacity of its electric scooters to 5 lakh units annually, with a focus on low-speed scooters for last mile connectivity.

About State Bank of India: State Bank of India (SBI) is the largest commercial bank in terms of assets, deposits, branches, customers and employees. It is also the largest mortgage lender in the country. As on December 31, 2019, the bank has a deposit base of over Rs. 31 lakh crore with CASA ratio of little more than 44% and advances of nearly Rs. 23 lakh crore. SBI commands 34% market share home loans and 34.86% in auto loans segment. The Bank has the largest network of 21,959 branches in India with an ATM / CDM network of over 58,500. The number of customers using internet banking facility are 70 million and mobile banking services stand more than 16 million. Downloads for YONO - an integrated digital and lifestyle platform by SBI - is 41.3 million with 4.5 million logins per day. On social media platforms, SBI has the highest number of followers on Facebook and Twitter amongst all banks worldwide.

About Hero Electric India:  HERO ELECTRIC is a pioneer of electric mobility and the largest electric two-wheeler manufacturer in India. The company has set up a manufacturing unit at Ludhiana, Punjab, with a total installed capacity of 100,000 units per annum. Hero Electric currently has over 610 sales and service outlets spread across the country, including top metros, min-metros, and even smaller towns. 

Hero Electric launched the first Lithium-ion based electric scooter in India and introduced the unique concept of charging stations for anywhere and everywhere usage. With close to 300,000 electric two-wheelers in India, the company has been delivering sustainable mobility solutions for the past 12 years. It continues to play a significant role in developing the EV market in the country. 

Hero Electric has been at the forefront of the electric two-wheeler revolution in India and encourages all to switch to electric mobility. It is committed to its philosophy of the #SmartMove by actively working towards generating awareness to curb air pollution through the umbrella campaign #CodeGreen.