Kawasaki Heavy Industries plans to convert all of its petrol-powered motorcycles to electric by 2035.
Although the global market was hit by Covid-19, there is a resurgent demand for motorcycles. This is partly because two-wheels are seen as the best transportation to move around and carries the lowest risk of infection.
In order to get things moving, Yasuhiko Hashimoto, president of KHI, reveals that the company is open to establishing a partnership with other companies to strengthen environmental efforts.
“Outdoor leisure activity has been popular during the COVID pandemic. We will strengthen our environmental efforts with our sights set on post-pandemic lifestyles.
“Partnerships with other companies may be possible in the future,” he said.
One of the main efforts of KHI via its spin-off motorcycle company, Kawasaki Motors Limited, is to set foot in introducing an electric range.
While there are no electric motorcycles with the Team Green badge, Kawasaki plans to launch ten electric-powered motorcycles by 2025. The main goal is to switch to electricity entirely by 2035 in Japan, Europe, U.S, Canada and Australia.
Interestingly, Kawasaki is one of a few companies that is currently working on a hydrogen-powered engine.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) has recently announced Kawasaki Motors Limited as a new entity in charge of its motorcycle businesses.
KHI decided to introduce the spin-off motorcycle company after the brand witnessed an increase of 80 per cent sales since 2017.
Customers demographics are increasingly younger as well, as the Japanese firm revealed a number of riders in their 20s had grown significantly by 60 per cent within the same period.
Even before announcing Kawasaki Motors Limited, the company has already pushing to expand their factory in the US, including spending around USD265 million in global expansion projects.
To celebrate the new corporate identity, Kawasaki Motors Limited is branding itself with a new logo or an old one previously used on the H2 range.
The company decided to adopt the iconic River Mark as the official corporate logo. The design was conceptualized with the Japanese kanji for “kawa”, which means “river”. The logo was originally flown on the flags of ships owned by Kawasaki Tsukiji Shipyard, which later became KHI.
The new logo is a clear statement of intent that will shape the company moving forwards.
Pendedahan itu dibuat sendiri Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) Modenas, Roslan Roskan, ketika sesi soal jawab di Hotel Thistle, Port Dickson, malam tadi.
Walaupun projek tersebut menyepi lebih tujuh tahun selepas model konsep pertama ditayangkan kepada umum namun pendedahan ini sedikit sebanyak membuka lembaran baharu.
Tahun lalu, Pengarah Urusan DRB-Hicom, Dato’ Syed Faisal Albar, sendiri memaklumkan bahawa projek itu telah terkubur namun kerjasama di antara Modenas dan Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) – yang memiliki 30 peratus pegangan saham dan mampu meningkat sehingga 48 peratus – seakan membuka semula projek menarik itu.
Malah, projek ‘supermoped’ itu akan turut sama dinilai oleh pihak KHI.
Pendedahan ini merupakan berita yang dinantikan rakyat Malaysia dan segmen supermoped yang popular dengan Yamaha Y15ZR, Honda RS150R, Benelli RFS150i dan SYM VF3i
Terdahulu, Roslan turut memaklumkan bahawa Modenas akan melancarkan beberapa jentera hasil kerjasama KHI dan difahamkan melibatkan model Versys dan Ninja.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI) otherwise known as “Kawasaki Japan” increases their stake in Modenas from 19 to 30 percent.
KHI and DRB-Hicom Bhd. entered an agreement for KHI to purchase and additional 14.3 million shares which equals an 11 percent stake. The shares were valued at RM 40.3 million cash.
Additionally, KHI is also subscribing to 52 million convertible preference shares (CPS) that will be issued by Modenas. KHI’s stake in the company will rise to 48% upon conversion.
KHI’s larger equity means that will actively participate in Modenas’s operations, rather than just being a bystander. The two entities have been partners for more than 20 years and KHI has been a 19% shareholder in Modenas since the latter’s inception in 1995.
The first Modenas motorcycles were based on Kawasaki’s models, including the Jaguh 175 lightweight cruiser. Apart from producing motorcycles, Modenas also machines components for KHI.
Their production facility is based in Gurun, Kedah and has a capacity of 130,000 units per year.
It’ll be interesting to see what KHI has in mind for the Modenas-Bajaj partnership.
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