Chip shortage | Hero Electric reports zero dispatches in April

Electric two-wheeler maker Hero Electric on April 29 said it had zero dispatches to dealers in April, hit by the ongoing global semiconductor shortage that led to stoppage of production.

“The company experienced extreme chip shortage and supply chain constraints,” Hero Electric said in a statement.

“The automotive industry is still struggling with international chip shortage leading to loss of production. Hero Electric was hit by the same and posted zero dispatches in April 2022,” it added.

“This has further increased the waiting list for its customers to 60 plus days and some of the dealerships have no stock to display,” the company said.

Commenting on the situation, Hero Electric CEO, Sohinder Gill said, it is like putting an emergency brake on a fast moving train. “Our sales were almost doubling month-on-month and we somehow managed with sourcing from different geographies but the war (Ukraine) collapsed a major supply chain resulting in this disruption,” he said.

“The company has geared up alternate sources and would soon resume production,” Mr. Gill added. “Meanwhile, we are using this time to enhance our plant capacity to increase our production volumes as well as revisit our systems and processes related to batteries to further reinforce the quality assurance of our bikes,” he said.

On the recent incidents of electric scooters catching fire, Mr. Gill said these are “awakening call for the industry”, adding “we believe that even the best of the companies should introspect and constantly improve their designs and quality to repose confidence in the electric mobility that is going through such a robust growth path”.