Hero Motors acquires stake in British EV transmission specialist Hewland Engineering

Automotive component manufacturer Hero Motors Company (HMC) on Monday announced securing a strategic stake in United Kingdom's transmission design technology leader Hewland Engineering Ltd.

The acquisition will enable Hero Motors to create a competitive single source entity to design and manufacture high-quality transmission products, particularly in the emerging EV segment, to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) across North America, Europe and India, it said.

The acquisition will also enable Hewland to further strengthen its product and service portfolio -- particularly in the area of transmissions for electrified passenger cars -- and pursue opportunities among global OEMs and tier one suppliers.

"We are very proud to announce a strategic equity investment in Hewland which has over 60 years of rich heritage and experience at the top levels of global motorsport and OEM component supply," said Pankaj M Munjal, Chairman and Managing Director at HMC.

"This investment represents a significant strategic inflection point for us in the transmission product segment. By combining Hewland's comprehensive design and analysis capabilities with our ability to support high-volume manufacturing we are strongly positioned to offer full-stream transmission solutions to global OEMs and tier one suppliers."

Munjal said HMC will continuing to invest in the United Kingdom as it is a significant hub for the company's EV and cycle-focused activities as well as for Hewland's established motorsport customer base.

This investment comes as Hero Motors continues to record strong growth in the first half of financial-year 2021, driven by major export projects and strong volume growth in its domestic market.

As part of its three-year roadmap, the group plans to treble international revenues by augmenting its R&D and business development activities within the European Union.

Hewland has provided EV transmission solutions to many high profile OEM customers over the past number of years, seeing significant year-on-year growth.

With its vast motorsport experience, Hewland is able to provide innovative transmission designs that are manufactured in compressed lead times supporting customer requirements for expedited development programmes to meet the surging EV demand for technology.

( With inputs from ANI )