Gulf Oil India intends to introduce EV lubricants of 2Ws, 3Ws, PVs and EV components in India as the automotive industry focuses on improving the planet for future generations. Ravi Chawla, MD and CEO, Gulf Oil India, mentioned in a conversation with Mobility Outlook that the company is discussing with a few of the 2W, PV, and EV component makers to introduce EV fluids for these segments.
Intriguingly, the lubricant manufacturer has already partnered with Switch Mobility, Piaggio, and Altigreen to provide EV fluids for bus segments and 3Ws. According to Chawla, the transition to EVs in India is more pronounced in the bus, 2W, 3W, and PV segments, with the company's current focus in India being on those segments and EV components. As a result, the company is seeking additional partnerships in these market sectors.
This is where the company’s global R&D centre in Ennore, Chennai, India, comes into play. The team at the centre is working along with OEMs in India and doing many trials with additive companies and technology partners to basically add value to the EV products in India, the CEO said.
Meanwhile, with the BS6 phase II kicking in from April 1, 2023, the company has partnered with BMW and Kia to offer AdBlue to the carmakers to make their offerings RDE compliant. AdBlue is a pure water and automotive-grade urea solution specially developed for diesel engines with an emission control system. The system sprays urea in the exhaust mix to control the NOx levels.
Interestingly in Q2FY23, the company managed to retail 14,000 kl of AdBlue, while in Q3 of the financial year, the retail grew to 21,000 kl. Chawla noted that although it is a single low-digit margin product, the company expects good growth for the product in the coming quarters.
Speaking of growth, the company posted a 30% YoY revenue growth in Q3FY23 to INR 781.10 crore as opposed to INR 601.82 crore in the same period last year. The CEO noted that with a focus on a segment-wise approach, the company has been able to go beyond its target of 2-3 folds of industry growth. He added that the growth has come due to the volume growth, the core volumes, which are lubricants, growing by more than 10% YoY and 6% QoQ in the said quarter. The core lubricants business for the company increased to 34,000 kl in Q3FY23 from 32,000 kl in Q2FY23, while the Q3FY22 figures stood at 31,000 kl.
The CEO noted that the company has seen good growth in the CV and PV lubricant business along with the lubricants for b2b use cases. However, the demand for two-wheeler lubricant, including in rural markets, along with agricultural demand, has been slightly subdued, though there has been growth there as well.
“We were expecting agriculture to do well as agriculture has two to three seasons in India. Although the sector was slightly subdued in the period between October to December, it will pick up again now going forward from February,” Chawla said.
From now on, with a focus on increasing its distribution network, the company aims to grow by three to four folds than the industry is targeting, which is 3% YoY. Meanwhile, focusing on the b2c side of the business with more incentives will also aid the growth, the CEO noted.
He added, “We are doing all of our initiatives below and above the line and we hope that quarter four will see us continue to grow. We are confident because we have introduced some value products in the motorcycle range and a product in the agricultural segment,”
Regarding retail outlets, Gulf Oil India currently has a network of 80,000 touchpoints, of which 10,000 are Gulf-branded bike and car stops. The aim is to increase these numbers at a rate of 15% each year, Chawla added.
While rural areas of the country account for 10% of the business for the lubricant manufacturer, with agricultural needs, motorcycles and diesel engine lubricants being the main focus. To meet the needs of the rural areas, the company intends to expand the network of Gulf Rural Stockists under its primary network channel.
Chawla believes that rural demand in the coming quarters will augur well on the back of improved conditions due to spending listed in the budget for this year, along with anticipated higher penetration of vehicles in semi-urban and rural cities.
“I think the value focused products for two wheelers and the agricultural sector will definitely play a role in our growth in the rural sector for the current quarter,” he added.
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