Hinduja flagship Ashok Leyland today expounded its strategy to make the organisation future-ready by elaborating its recent initiative - Switch Mobility, UK, the next-generation electric bus and light commercial vehicle company.
According to Dheeraj Hinduja, Chairman, Ashok Leyland & Switch Mobility, the addressable markets globally for electric buses and light trucks are expected to reach sir around $70 billion by 2030 from the current base of $5 billion. Therefore, to accelerate its zero-emission efforts, provide a unified approach and technology development, and address global markets, the group has now combined its electric mobility assets into a single entity under Switch Mobility. The advantages include an integrated approach, addressing advanced markets, including EU and growth markets like India, and constantly innovating and executing faster to stay ahead of the curve and meet emerging global needs.
Dr Andrew Palmer, Executive Vice Chairman & CEO, Switch Mobility, said the benefit of being a new company is writing down its purpose and strategy, which is the democratisation of zero-carbon mobility.
'We already have a head start in the e-Mobility space, with our vehicles already clocking millions of miles in service. We want to increase our reach further and work with different stakeholders to encourage the faster adoption of net-zero carbon mobility. Technology and innovation will continue to be pivotal in realising our aspirations in the e-bus and e-truck space,' Palmer added.
'Our experiences, deeply rooted in the UK and India, allows us to have that proposition on the total cost of ownership in a much more compelling way than I believe anybody else,' he said.
Palmer added that part of the democratisation of zero-carbon is accelerating the deployment of those electric vehicles, and the company's Mobility as a Service operation helps to do that.
Vipin Sondhi, MD & CEO, Ashok Leyland, said these new initiatives give the company the ability to drive its sustainability agenda. Switch Mobility, with its strength in net zero carbon technologies combined with Ashok Leyland's expertise in the mobility space, will lead this change and enable the company to fulfil its aspiration net-zero-zero carbon mobility he added.
It may be recalled that last April, Switch Mobility announced technological collaborations with various partners, including Siemens, to deliver e-Mobility solutions that offer the lowest Total Cost of Ownership for CV customers. As part of its ramp-up, the company has already signed customer agreements and LoI's with leading logistic and e-commerce operators.