MATTER Motor Works Plans to Invest $100 Mn in 3 Yrs: Founder & Group CEO Mohal Lalbhai

Electric motorcycle maker MATTER Motor Works plans to invest $100 million dollars (nearly ₹915 crore) in the next three years, as it plans to roll out four bikes besides entering the electric scooter segment, its Founder and Group CEO Mohal Lalbhai said on Wednesday.

The company is targeting annual sales of 3 lakh units by 2029, while it looks to start exports to overseas markets by 2027, Lalbhai told PTI.

"We are talking about four different classes of products. There will be variants underneath, but it will be four motorcycles and one scooter," he said when asked about the company's product rollout plans.

Elaborating further, Lalbhai said, "We started off with a 175 to 200 cc equivalent (electric bike). We are going to be bringing in a 150 cc (equivalent) in 2026, then bringing in a 125 cc product in 2027, creating different form factors of the 150 cc and the 200 cc over 2028 and 2029." Then, towards 2029, he said, "We are looking at introducing a scooter once our entire motorcycle portfolio is complete." Currently, the company is present in the domestic electric motorcycle market with its flagship bike, AERA'.

The company, which showcased its AI-Defined vehicles (AIDV) platform at its Technology Day 3.0, here, said its future products will be built on a common AI-defined hardware, software and data backbone.

The AIDV platform establishes a scalable technology and product roadmap spanning multiple products over the next 36-48 months, it added.

When asked about investments, he said, "Up till now, MATTER has invested close to $100 million overall in building the entire ecosystem to date that we have. Going forward, we are looking at an equivalent amount of investment over the next three-odd years in ensuring that all of these products are out." The company's manufacturing facility at Ahmedabad has an annual capacity of 1.2 lakh units, he said, adding, "We will be expanding into a second facility, and that cost is also baked into this $100 million".

Sharing the company's sales aspirations in India, he said, "We are looking at going from 20,000-25,000 vehicles in 2026 to ramping up to closer to about 3 lakh vehicles by 2029." For this, the company will undertake rapid expansion of its sales and service network, he said.

"The last six months, we were essentially conducting our pilot. We were operating in 15 cities with 20 dealerships. We are now aggressively expanding. In 2026, we are looking at ending with about 150 dealerships, and then taking that number up to almost 300 in 2027 and then 2028 will be closer to 500 dealerships overall." Asked about the company's export plans, Lalbhai said the company is already in discussions in a few geographies, including Africa, Eastern Europe and South America.

"All of these have their own lead times. We do aspire, 2026 is more going to be us setting up the foundation, 2027 is where we actually start shipping vehicles," he noted.

On the supply chain issues related to rare earth magnets that hit EV makers globally, including in India, last year due to China's restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals, Lalbhai said the company has been able to develop motors without rare earths, which "still perform the same as those with rare earths" and "we are already ready with an alternate where it's not China dependent".