Force Motors bets on premium shared mobility with Urbania vans

Force Motors is positioning its new Urbania platform as the centrepiece of its growth strategy, targeting both domestic and export markets. Managing Director and CEO Prasan Firodia said the 9–17 seater premium van is helping the company tap into rising demand for high-end shared mobility solutions, even as goods and services tax (GST) 2.0 rationalisation and new export orders provide additional momentum.The company currently produces about 600 Urbania vehicles per month, with demand growing steadily across India and overseas markets. “We are creating this segment and see a lot of traction in both domestic and international markets,” Firodia said. Urbania has already been launched across GCC countries and Latin America, where the company sees “substantial opportunity” for expansion.

Firodia said Urbania, built on an all-new platform, caters to emerging categories such as premium tourism and staff transportation. “As India grows as an economy, people’s expectations and aspirations are growing. Premiumization of transportation solutions is becoming necessary,” he explained.Force Motors has traditionally been strong in shared mobility solutions like tourism, staff, and education transport. The first half of this year marked its best-ever performance. “For us as a company, the H1 has been phenomenal. It’s been our best H1 so far,” Firodia said. He credited part of the growth to the GST 2.0 reforms, which lowered the tax rate on certain vehicle categories by 25%, improving affordability and boosting demand.

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While the company has a limited presence in SUVs — with its Gurkha off-roader serving both civilian and defence purposes — Force Motors is expanding its footprint in defence mobility, having won an order to supply about 3,000 vehicles to the armed forces.

Industry experts believe the premium shared mobility space could become a key growth driver. Hemal Thakkar, Senior Practice Leader and Director at CRISIL, said, “This is a new segment that is getting created. Over time, we’ll see this pick up because it’s more of a lifestyle-oriented service.”

He added that the broader auto market continues to show a strong premiumisation trend. “Five to six years ago, the sub-four-metre category was about 60% of sales; now it’s 28%. SUVs and vans together have doubled to around 70%,” Thakkar said. He expects overall passenger vehicle offtake to grow 6–7% in the second half of the fiscal year.

The current market capitalisation of Force Motors is around ₹22,567.38 crore.

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