Eicher Motors Limited (EML) – the listed parent of Royal Enfield apart from being a partner in Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture commercial vehicle unit with Volvo – has reported its best ever Q2 FY2024-25 with a revenue of INR 42.63 billion from operations. It was INR 41.15 billion in the corresponding period of FY2023-24.  
The EBITDA during the respective period was INR 10.88 million as compared to INR 10.87 million in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. Profit After Tax was INR 11 billion, an increase of 8.3 percent as compared to INR 10.16 billion during the same period last year. 
During the quarter, Eicher Group company Royal Enfield recorded sales of 2,25,317 motorcycles as compared to 2,29,496 motorcycles sold during the same period in FY2023-24. 
For Q2 FY 2024-25, VECV’s revenue from operations was INR 55.38 billion, up by 8.0 percent over the previous year’s revenue of INR 51.26 billion.  EBITDA for the second quarter was INR 3.95 billion as compared to INR 4.02 billion last year. 
Profit After Tax (PAT) stood at INR 2.09 billion as against INR 1.87 billion last year. VECV recorded sales of 20,774 vehicles in the second quarter over 19,551 vehicles last year. 
Siddhartha Lal, Managing Director, Eicher Motors Ltd, mentioned, “During this quarter, we have continued to sustain the momentum both at Royal Enfield and VECV. At EICMA, earlier this month, we launched two motorcycles on our 650-Twin platform; the Bear 650, and the Classic 650. In addition to this, Royal Enfield marked its foray into electric mobility with a new EV brand - the Flying Flea. With an intent to disrupt and grow the electric motorcycle segment, we are approaching it with the same singularity, focus and unconventionality with which we have grown and energized the global mid-size segment over the last several years. Under the Flying Flea we will have a portfolio of differentiated electric motorcycles for city+ mobility. On the commercial vehicle front, VE Commercial Vehicles delivered its best Q2 ever, with strengthened market shares in truck segments. This is commendable against the backdrop of lower industry volumes as compared to Q2 of last year.”
B. Govindarajan, CEO, Royal Enfield and Whole-time Director of EML, said, "This quarter we launched two stellar motorcycles - the Guerrilla 450 and the 2024 Classic 350 in an all-new avatar and response to both these motorcycles has been remarkable. We have also made significant progress on expanding and strengthening our footprint outside India as we debuted the brand in Bangladesh with our new flagship store in Dhaka, and a manufacturing and assembly unit in the country. We are also setting up a second CKD in Brazil early next year. Basis the strong legwork that we put in during Q2 this year, we were able to achieve a very special milestone for Royal Enfield in terms of our festive sales performance in October. We outperformed all our previous monthly sales performance and achieved over 1,00,000 sales in a single month. These initiatives underscore our commitment to our long-term strategic goals and to continue delivering pure motorcycling experiences across the globe.” 
Speaking on the performance, Vinod Aggarwal, MD and CEO, VECV, said, “VECV delivered its highest ever second quarter sales during Q2 FY25 growing 6.2 percent over Q2 FY24 and attaining leadership in the Light and Medium Duty (LMD) segment during the quarter. This growth was against a drop in CV industry volumes of 10.8 percent in the same period and stands as a testament to our broad product range backed by fast-expanding network coverage focused on delivering uptime to customers. Margins remained under pressure in a competitive market as we successfully continued to invest in growing our heavy-duty truck presence. We took another step in our sustainability journey, signing a MoU for deployment of 500 Eicher Pro 6055 LNG trucks.”
Royal Enfield forayed into the EV space by announcing the launch of its completely new electric vehicle brand, Flying Flea at EICMA show in Milan, Italy, recently. 
The debut featured two models – the Classic-styled Flying Flea C6 and the Scrambler-styled Flying Flea S6. 
The two-wheeler company also revisited its legacy with two new models on the 650 Twin platform – the Bear 650 (a robust scrambler, designed for riders who follow their instincts, featuring versatile capabilities to enhance the riding experience) and the Classic 650 powered by the celebrated 650 Twin engine for a ride that is both swift and elegant. 
Strengthening its global footprint, Royal Enfield, in n the SAARC region, commenced operations of its Manufacturing Unit (Category 2) and flagship showroom in Bangladesh. The facility will engage in local production and assembly of four flagship models – Hunter 350, Meteor 350, Classic 350 and Bullet 350 specifically for the Bangladesh market. 
Royal Enfield has announced its intent to set up a new CKD unit in Brazil by January 2025 which will help diversify its operations and expand its presence in the automotive market.

Ola Electric, one of India’s largest pure-play EV companies, has bagged five Gold Awards at the 49^th International Convention on Quality Control Circles (ICQCC) held in Sri Lanka in November 2024.

This landmark recognition was achieved by the company’s all-women workforce from Ola Futurefactory in Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu, who competed against industry peers from 14 countries.

The EV maker’s five teams won for the following projects –

Paint Shop: Innovation in optimisation strategies that slashes operational costs.

Motor Division: Enhancing product competitiveness by reducing Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ).

General Assembly: Accelerating time-to-market by increasing capacity in the front fork sub-assembly process.

Battery Shop: Improve battery pack productivity in order to meet the growing customer demands.

Weld Shop: Improving robotics throughput to enhance operational efficiency and streamline workflows.

Ola Electric acknowledged the role of its women-led teams from rural backgrounds, who showcased their work at the factory’s paint shop, motor shop, general assembly line, battery shop, and welding shop.

“This recognition at ICQCC is a testament to our relentless pursuit of excellence with our incredibly talented women at the helm of the EV revolution at our Futurefactory. It reflects our ethos of blending innovation with empowerment and setting new benchmarks on the operational-heavy automotive shop floors, which are traditionally dominated by men. We are extremely happy to have started this shift in the Indian automotive manufacturing landscape and are committed to bringing more women on the shop floors,” commented an Ola spokesperson.

Coimbatore-based Propel Industries Private Limited has announced the appointment of Siddharth Kirtane as the President of its EV Division that makes heavy-duty e-trucks for construction and mining applications. Propel Industries – specialising in the manufacture of crushing equipment – homologated its electric heavy-duty Tipper (470 HEV) is September 2024 and has since been offering it in two battery variants—385 kWh and 256 kWh.  
With a long-standing experience in the commercial vehicle industry in India as Head – Brand and Marketing, Volvo Trucks India; as Business Head – Construction and Infrastructure, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles Ltd, and as Vice President, Marketing, Daimler India Commercial Vehicles, Kirtane will leverage his knowledge and expertise to scale up the EV business in his new role. 
 

The 42 days festive period vehicle retail data for 2024 that the Federation Of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has released, the overall sales of automobiles during this festive season have exceeded that of the last festive season. 
"I am delighted to announce that the automobile retail sector has achieved a new milestone, surpassing last year's festive records. We witnessed a remarkable surge in numbers since the beginning of Navratri, nearly hitting our forecasted target with 42.88 lakh vehicles registered during this period — a growth of 11.76 percent over last year's 38.37 lakh units,” mentioned C S Vigneshwar, President, FADA. 
Two-wheeler sales were particularly robust, according to him, registering a 13.79 percent growth to reach 3.31 million units, largely driven by strong rural demand. 
Passenger vehicle sales bounced back after a decline of roughly two-to-three months with a growth of 7.10 percent to 0.6 million units, spurred by pent-up demand and unprecedented discounts available in the market. 
Acknowledging that the target of 45,00,000-unit sales could have been fully met or even exceeded were it not for the unseasonal heavy rains in South India (especially in Bengaluru and Tamil Nadu) and the Cyclone Dana that affected Odisha, Vigneshwar averred, “FADA anticipates – as the festivities conclude – that passenger vehicle stock levels will reduce further from was reported in the October retail data press release.”
“FADA advises caution as the complete picture on inventory will emerge by month-end,” he added. 
Stating that FADA urges OEMs to focus on liquidating 2024 stock so that Dealers can enter 2025 with ideal FADA-recommended 21 days of inventory, Vigneshwar said, “Its 1.5 months remaining before the calendar year ends.”
 

The Auto Cluster Development And Research Institute, Chinchwad MIDC (Pune), is conducting a three-day workshop on TIG welding technology in its campus on 27-29 November 2024. 
Lead by experts in the respective field such as Chandrakant Vaidya, who has over 40 years of experience in QAC and welding (and has worked at ENPRO Industries, Thermax and Babcock and Wilcox Energy System), and Vijay Patole, who too has over 40 years of experience in welding, the workshop will delve a variety of topics in the field of TIG welding. 
Besides introducing the attendees to TIG welding, the workshop will delve into TIG welding theory, TIG welding equipment and setup, demonstration and hands-on practice, TIG welding techniques, welding different materials, welding positions and techniques, joint types, advanced TIG welding techniques, quality control, troubleshooting, weld quality inspection, final practice and project, industry-specific applications and welding equipment maintenance among other areas of knowledge and information. 
The three-day workshop would include breakfast and lunch. The workshop has been specifically curated to ensure skill development and upskilling of those who are seeking to upgrade their skills in the respective field of manufacturing technology.