Saietta Group plc (LON:SED), the multi-national business which designs, engineers and manufactures complete electric drivetrain (eDrive) systems for electric vehicles, has announced a new Letter of Assignment for a third vehicle line with its existing Indian client, one of the largest OEMs in the Indian light-duty mobility market. Subject to entering into formal production orders, the parties initially expect a volume of 60,000 units over a 5-year period.
Agreements in place with the global OEM
On 6 December 2022, Saietta announced through its joint venture in India, Saietta VNA, the first set of agreements with a global OEM for lightweight electric vehicles (LEVs) in India. The executed Letter of Assignment confirmed Saietta VNA’s appointment for the product development and industrialisation of electric vehicle drive systems and associated electronics for the client. Subsequently, on 7 March 2023, the Company confirmed that it was confident mass production in India would commence on plan in 2023 for the first two vehicle platforms, with a minimum volume target of 80,000 eDrives over a five-year period.
Saietta has today confirmed the signature of an additional Letter of Assignment (LOA) between Saietta VNA and the same Indian OEM for a third product line. The first two projects featured Saietta’s innovative Axial Flux Technology (AFT) motors, mated to the Company’s integrated controller and modular gearbox to create a complete eAxle. This third product line will feature the Company’s all-new Radial Flux Technology (RFT), mated to a new Saietta plc controller and gearbox. This application is for a lower powered L5 category small commercial vehicle, taking Saietta into a new sector in the rapidly expanding Indian lightweight electric vehicle (LEV) market.
Once the RFT eDrive has been proven to fully meet the client’s requirements, the LOA specifies an initial 12,000 eDrives in the first year of production with the parties consequently expecting to have a 5-year volume of a minimum of 60,000 units, in addition to the 80,000 AFT units outlined above. The RFT Intellectual Property will be exclusively owned by Saietta VNA and Saietta’s JV partner (Padmini VNA) will contribute £857,000 towards the RFT product development cost.
Saietta VNA expects to receive its first formal production purchase order for the RFT units in due course which will formally contract the client to the commencement of commercial manufacture. Production of the RFT eDrives will take place in Saietta’s new manufacturing facility in Delhi, alongside the AFT production line (as described further below).
Update on manufacturing for previously announced AFT units
Saietta VNA remains on track for the first projects for two small commercial vehicles. The eDrives will be manufactured by Saietta VNA at a new 33,000 square foot facility in Gurugram, Delhi. Located in the heart of the region’s thriving automotive cluster, Saietta selected the location because of its strong network of automotive suppliers, specialised knowledge and skilled workforce. Saietta VNA already has a 25-strong team in place, the supply chain ready to be activated, and the new manufacturing plant has been handed over to its team. The machinery will start to be installed shortly, and commissioning and recruitment of the production operatives is about to commence. Saietta expects to receive the first of a series of production purchase orders for AFT units in the near term which will trigger deliveries from Q4 this year.
Tony Gott, Executive Chairman & Interim CEO of Saietta, commented:
“This is an exciting time for Saietta. It is the culmination of many years of hard work to develop deep insight into the Indian lightweight mobility sector and to then engineer a range of complete, modular eDrive solutions specifically for it – designed in the UK to ‘Make in India’ with a largely Indian supply chain.
“This new agreement from our major Indian OEM customer for a third product line is further validation that our product and service offering is highly valued.
“Our core focus is on providing eDrive solutions for lightweight electric vehicles in India and we are aggressively ramping up our industrial activities in market to ensure we have the right people, facilities, equipment, processes and supply chain in place to deliver high quality solutions to our clients. We are confident that we will achieve our mission to see lightweight electric vehicles powered by Saietta on the road in India in the first half of 2024.”
