Investment in Pinnacle Mobility, an Indian Company Developing Mobility Electrification Business under the EKA Brand

Mitsui & Co., Ltd. ("Mitsui", Head Office: Tokyo, President and CEO: Kenichi Hori), along with major Dutch EV bus manufacturer VDL, has invested in Pinnacle Mobility Solutions Private Limited ("Pinnacle Mobility"), an Indian company that produces and sells electric buses and electric small commercial vehicles under the EKA brand.

India is aggressively promoting a policy to popularize EVs as a countermeasure to its serious air pollution problem. By 2030, the government aims to make EVs account for 70% of commercial vehicles, 30% of passenger cars, 40% of buses, and 80% of motorcycles and three-wheelers. Among these, Pinnacle Mobility is focusing on public service vehicles (route buses, garbage trucks, etc.), which will be fully converted to EVs by 2030. Pinnacle Mobility will also focus on e-commerce last-mile logistics, for which demand is expected to increase in large cities. Concentrating on these two areas, the company plans to expand its manufacturing and sales business of electric buses and small commercial vehicles.

By leveraging Pinnacle Mobility’s engineering capabilities and local procurement network, VDL’s technological capabilities cultivated in Europe, and Mitsui’s global network, we aim to make India a global hub for EV manufacturing and development under the EKA brand. We will also contribute to Prime Minister Modi’s "Make in India" policy*.

Mitsui has set "Deeper Sustainability Management" as one of the corporate strategies in its Medium-term Management Plan 2026, and has set net-zero emissions as the company’s vision for 2050. In addition, we have positioned low-carbonization in the fuel sector as an important issue to be overcome towards achieving a decarbonized society, and are working on both demand and supply. The investment in Pinnacle Mobility will take on the challenge of creating demand for EVs in India, which is expected to grow in the future.

Through this investment, we will further promote the electrification and decarbonization of mobility and contribute to the creation of a society that is in harmony with the environment.

*A policy aimed at further advancing the Indian economy through the development of the country’s manufacturing industry by attracting foreign capital

Company name           Pinnacle Mobility Solutions Private Limited
Brand name                 EKA
Location                       Pune, Maharashtra State, India
Year of establishment 2019
Representative            Sudhir Mehta
No. of employees        220 (as of September 2023)
Business                       Manufacturing and sale of electric buses and electric small commercial vehicles
URL                               https://ekamobility.com/
 

Mitsui’s Materiality

“Build brighter futures, everywhere” as our corporate mission, and to gain the trust and expectations of our stakeholders to realize a better tomorrow for earth and for people around the world, we have identified five material issues (“Materiality”) for Mitsui’s sustainable growth. We anticipate this particular project/ business to contribute especially to the realization of “Secure sustainable supply of essential products” and “Create an eco-friendly society”

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Mitsui’s current assumptions, expectations and beliefs in light of the information currently possessed by it and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors may cause Mitsui’s actual results, financial position or cash flows to be materially different from any future results, financial position or cash flows expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors referred to above include, but are not limited to, those contained in Mitsui’s latest Annual Securities Report and Quarterly Securities Report, and Mitsui undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.
This announcement is published in order to publicly announce specific facts stated above, and does not constitute a solicitation of investments or any similar act inside or outside of Japan, regarding the shares, bonds or other securities issued by us.

The information contained in this release is true and accurate at the time of publication; however, it may be subject to change without prior notice.