After electric buses, China's BYD wants to sell electric cargo vehicles in India

MUMBAI: BYD Auto, one of the world's largest makers of electric vehicles, plans to enter the electric cargo vehicles sector in India and has signed an agreement with a domestic company ETO Motors to assemble its vehicles here.

The Chinese automaker already sells electric buses in India in partnership with Hyderabad-based Olectra Greentech. In September this year, it was reported that the company was looking for local partners in the country for its electric cargo vans to branch out beyond buses.

The partnership with ETO Motors will be focussed on developing electric cargo three- and four-wheelers for the Indian market, Biju Mathews, chief executive of the Indian company told ET. The vehicles will be assembled from kits imported from China at ETO's plant near Hyderabad, Mathews said.


Apart from assembling electric vehicles, ETO also provides electric logistics solutions. The company had placed an order for 50 of BYD's T3 cargo vans which and targets to deploy 2,000 such vehicles by March 2020, as per Mathews. It is already in talks with companies like Flipkart, Ikea, and Delhivery, among others, for thrid-party logistics contracts, he said.