Saietta Group plc (LON:SED), the multi-national business which designs, engineers and manufactures complete electric drivetrain (eDrive) solutions for electric vehicles, announces that its 49.5% owned Indian joint venture, Saietta VNA, has received an order for complete eDrives from its lead Indian client for a second of their light commercial vehicles.
The customer is a global OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and one of the largest producers of light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in the Indian market. The purchase order is for approximately £106,000 of systems for the pilot production over the next c3 months. Target volumes indicated by the client, subject to further purchase orders, are expected to commence in Q2 2024 generating revenue for Saietta VNA of approximately £12.7 million in the first year of production, with an expected minimum of 60,000 orders over a 5 year period.
The order is for Saietta’s proprietary, all-new Radial Flux Technology (RFT) motor, mated to a bespoke Saietta controller, transmission, axle and vehicle control unit. This is the first significant order for the Company’s new RFT eDrive, validating the substantial commercial opportunity that this technology represents for Saietta.
This is the second order Saietta VNA has received in quick succession from the same Indian OEM. The first was announced on 27 September 2023 for an eDrive consisting of Saietta’s proprietary Axial Flux Technology (AFT) motor with an integrated controller, transmission, axle and vehicle control unit. This means that Saietta VNA now has two eDrive product lines commencing production with a combined indication of minimum volumes of 100,000 units within the first 5 years of vehicle production.
Both eDrive solutions have been designed and developed at Saietta’s Global Technical Centre in Silverstone, UK, and will be manufactured at Saietta VNA’s all-new 33,000 sq-ft production facility in Delhi, India, utilising a largely local supply chain (see appendix for images of the Indian facility). Production has already commenced for the AFT eDrive and the RFT eDrive system is targeted to commence production in Q2 2024. Vehicles powered by Saietta’s AFT and RFT motors are expected to be on India’s roads in the first half of 2024.
Further to the announcement on 19 October 2023, the Company is seeking funding for working capital and to capitalise on the clear opportunity in the Indian lightweight vehicle market, as further demonstrated by this contract win. The Company is in advanced discussions with key stakeholders and will provide a further update in due course as these conversations progress.
Tony Gott, Executive Chairman, Saietta Group plc, said:
“This is the second order secured by our Indian JV in quick succession from the same mainstream Indian lightweight vehicle manufacturer which demonstrates the success of our technical collaboration. We have solutions for two further product lines for them also under development which we expect to mature into orders in time. We believe this confirms market pull for our modular products and services in this highly demanding, cost-competitive market.
The addition of the all-new second eDrive model line based around our proprietary Radial Flux Technology (RFT) motor is a game-changer for Saietta it opens up the huge Indian electric 2 wheel market which numbered nearly 900,000 registrations in the 12 months to end September 2023. Currently electric 2 wheelers account for around 5% of all 2 wheel registrations in India, so the potential for Saietta’s RFT motors is very clear as this sector rapidly transitions to electric propulsion.
The order announced today is for a RFT derivative which sits just below our flagship AFT motor family in terms of performance and is for a lightweight 3 wheel vehicle. However, it’s just the first derivative and we intend to bring to market a modular family of RFT eDrive systems which will enable us to provide solutions across the lightweight 2 and 3 wheel sector in India and beyond and to secure the commercial opportunities which are clearly in front of us right now.”
Background on the Indian Market
Demand for eMobility solutions in India is rapidly increasing. It’s currently running at just over 1.5 million EV registrations for the 12 months to end September 2023, compared to just over 1 million units for CY 2022, which itself was up over 200% on CY 2021. Lightweight vehicles are the dominant form of transport in India, accounting for over 94% of all EV registrations for the 12 months to end September 2023. Saietta has engineered a range of eDrive solutions in the UK specifically for the Indian lightweight vehicle sector, to be made in India with a largely Indian supply chain and so is well positioned to capitalise on the clear market trend.
