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Italian private equity house Cape-Natixis
SGR SpA confirmed yesterday that it is in talks with US-Indian electric car
manufacturer Reva Electric Car Co about building its electric cars at Fiat's
closure-threatened Termini Imerese factory. Cape-Naxtis hopes to have signed a
'Memorandum of Understanding' (MoU) with Reva by January 29, the date set by the
Italian government for a crunch meeting too look at future alternatives for the
plant that Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne is adamant will be closed once production
of the current generation Lancia Ypsilon runs out next year.
"We are
finalising an MoU to sign by Jan 29," Simone Cimino, the CEO
of Cape-Naxtis told Dow Jones Newswires yesterday. Cape
Natixis SGR Spa is 51 percent owned by Cimino & Associati
Private Equity, a private equity advisor since 1999, with
thirteen investments and eleven exits completed and 49
percent by Natixis Private Equity International
(international arm of the leading French private equity
player.
The Reva
Electric Car Company is one of the pioneers of the electric
vehicle (EV) industry. An Indo-US joint venture
headquartered on the edge of Electronic City in Bangalore,
Reva develops all its key EV technologies in-house including
energy management systems, telematics and fast charging. The
company's cars now are on the roads in 24 countries
worldwide and it claims to have the largest deployed fleet
of electric cars: 3,000 EVs in use and with more than 70
million km of user experience. Reva, which launched in
Europe at the Frankfurt IAA last autumn, says that its cars
have been designed to use approximately 80 percent fewer
parts than a conventional or hybrid car. They are assembled
using tools powered by solar energy and cleaned using
harvested rainwater. The first charge in every car assembled
in India comes from solar power. Beginning in European
markets, at the end of their first life in a Reva car, the
lithium ion batteries will have a second life in another
application, further reducing their environmental impact,
whilst in India there is an end of life recycling programme
approved by the Pollution Control Board. During the course
of this year the company says that it will publish the
carbon emissions for the assembly and lifetime operation of
its cars and enable customers to allow consumers to make a
more environmentally informed buying decision.
Reva's Deputy
Chairman Chetan Maini has also confirmed this week that
talks over Termini Imerese are going on. "We continue to
explore opportunities for franchisee assembly in Europe," he
was quoted by the Wall Street Journal yesterday as
saying, adding though that Reva had no interest in
purchasing the plant outright. Termini Imerese has recently
been linked to two India carmakers, Mahindra & Mahindra and
Tata Motors, although both companies were swift to deny they
had any interest.
Reva makes one
electric-car in two versions, the NXR City comes with a lead
acid battery pack while the NXR Intercity has a lithium ion
phosphate battery pack. The NXR has been designed as an
everyday car for pollution free city commuting. It is an
all-electric car that has zero tailpipe emissions, and is
quieter to drive. The NXR, Reva claim, is easy to charge as
it can be plugged into any 15 amp socket, easy to drive as
it is automatic, easy to manoeuvre as it has a tiny turning
circle of just 3.9 m, and easy to park as it is just 3.28 m
long, yet it seats four adults comfortably.
According to
reports Cape-Naxtis wants to use the Termini Immerse factory
to make Reva's electric vehicles for use by tourists on the
island. Fiat's unions have called a nationwide strike for
February 3, the first since Marchionne took over running the
Italian carmaker, as they fight to secure the Sicilian
factory's carmaking future. Fiat has said it would be
prepared to give away the loss-making factory away to a
party that comes up with a viable plan. Cimino also told Dow Jones
Newswires that he believes that the MoU can be signed in
time for the government meeting on January 29. "Chetan Maini
is very positive and we aim to define an agreement, on the
principles of an MoU we have an outline, on a framework
agreement we will need another two months," he said.
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