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Montra Electric, the EV arm of the Murugappa Group, is gearing up to expand its small commercial vehicle (SCV) range. The company will launch a new sub-3.5-tonne electric truck next year, which will be followed by an electric light commercial vehicle (LCV) in the 3.5–7.5-tonne category. The announcement was made by Saju Nair, CEO of Montra Electric’s SCV division.
The company introduced its first 3.5-tonne SCV, the Eviator, earlier this year. Now, it plans to add around 10 new variants on the same platform, along with a lower-tonnage model in the sub-3.5-tonne space. After that, Montra aims to enter the higher-tonnage LCV segment as well.
India’s SCV segment has been witnessing rapid growth and now constitutes the largest share of the goods carrier market. In FY25, total goods carrier CV sales stood at 9.56 lakh units, of which the 2–3.5 tonne SCV category dominated with 3.10 lakh units.
This segment is widely seen as the “sweet spot” for electrification because of shorter routes, moderate payloads and high utilisation—factors that strengthen the business case for electric vehicles.
According to Montra Electric, EV penetration in the SCV category is still low at around 1%, but the company expects it to rise to 5% next year and potentially reach 20% by the end of the decade.
Montra currently sells its SCVs through 20 touchpoints across the country, which will increase to 25 by the end of this financial year. This year, the company is focusing on exploring more use cases and onboarding large customers. From next year onward, the focus will shift to scaling up volumes.
Customer concerns such as driver comfort, load-space design and energy efficiency still remain areas for improvement in electric SCVs and LCVs an opportunity Montra aims to address with differentiated EV offerings.
The company is targeting $1 billion in revenue by 2030, with more than half expected from its medium and heavy commercial vehicle (M&HCV) business.
For SCV and LCV production, Montra operates a dedicated facility in Ponneri, Tamil Nadu, with an annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles. Its M&HCV operations are handled by IPLTech Electric at the Manesar plant in Haryana.
Recently, the company strengthened its presence in the heavy electric truck space with the launch of the Rhino 5538 EV 4x2 tractor-trailer.
