Kia Europe has announced a significant leadership appointment aimed at accelerating its push into the commercial electric vehicle sector. Erhan Eren has taken the role of Director for Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) with effecf from 1 March 2026, reinforcing the company's commitment to establishing a comprehensive electric mobility ecosystem tailored for European markets.

Operating out of Kia's European headquarters in Frankfurt, Eren will be responsible for steering the strategic growth and practical deployment of the PBV portfolio across the region. His duties will encompass managing the entire PBV ecosystem, from crafting market entry strategies to ensuring seamless collaboration between the central headquarters, individual European markets and key conversion partners. A core part of his mandate will be to strengthen the regional PBV team and ensure that Kia's flexible, modular vehicle architecture is effectively localised through conversion and homologation to meet the specific demands of European fleet operators.

With a career spanning over 18 years in the commercial vehicle industry, Eren brings extensive expertise in trucks, buses and vans. His background includes significant leadership roles overseeing profit and loss, international market expansion and the introduction of advanced battery-electric and fuel-cell technologies. He has a proven track record in cultivating high-performance sales and service networks and developing customer-focused mobility solutions for various commercial sectors.

Eren's arrival coincides with a period of rapid progress for Kia's PBV initiative. The programme recently achieved a notable milestone as the Kia PV5 was named the International Van of the Year 2026, highlighting the brand's growing stature in the light commercial vehicle arena. The overarching PBV strategy is centred on a dedicated electric platform that utilises modular body designs, adaptable interiors and sophisticated connectivity features tailored for logistics, delivery and specialised applications. This integrated approach, which combines hardware, software and a network of conversion specialists, is designed to lower total ownership costs while providing superior operational flexibility.

The rollout of this new generation of vehicles commenced in late 2025 with the introduction of the PV5 Passenger and Cargo variants, followed by the PV5 Chassis Cab. Looking ahead, larger models like the PV7 and PV9 are planned, supporting Kia's ambitious global target of selling 250,000 electric PBV units annually by 2030.

Eren said, “Kia’s PBV strategy is redefining what businesses can expect from an electric vehicle, pairing a dedicated platform with modular flexibility and advanced connectivity. My priority is to ensure customers benefit from a seamless, reliable ecosystem – from strong product fundamentals to service, uptime support, converter integration and parts availability. This role brings together everything I value: practical innovation, purposeful transformation and creating real impact for customers.”

Sjoerd Knipping, COO, Kia Europe, said, “Kia is emerging as a game‑changer in commercial electric mobility and our PBV approach offers the B2B market a new standard in purpose‑built solutions. With his extensive experience in commercial mobility and electrified fleets, Erhan Eren will play a vital role in driving the next chapter of Kia’s PBV strategy in Europe.”

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GreenLine Mobility Solutions Ltd., an Essar venture and the sole Indian operator of LNG and electric-powered heavy commercial trucks for green logistics, has entered into a partnership with Dabur India Ltd., a major FMCG player. The agreement focuses on integrating LNG-powered trucks into Dabur’s logistics network to advance supply chain sustainability.

GreenLine will supply its LNG fleet to handle long-haul freight for Dabur, aiming to cut emissions significantly without compromising on performance or dependability. This move aligns with Dabur’s internal goals for a lower-carbon operational framework and reflects a wider corporate trend in India toward embracing cleaner transport alternatives.

Currently, GreenLine manages over 1,000 LNG and electric vehicles on key freight routes, serving diverse sectors such as steel, cement, mining, FMCG and chemicals. The fleet has surpassed 100 million kilometres in cumulative travel, resulting in more than 27,000 tonnes of CO₂ reductions for its clients, reinforcing the company’s role in reshaping India’s road freight landscape.

Charles Devlin D’Costa, Vice President – Sales, GreenLine Mobility Solutions Ltd, said, "We are pleased to partner with Dabur India, one of India's most respected consumer goods companies, as it adopts greener road transportation solutions. It is encouraging to see more leading Indian companies making low-emission logistics an integral part of their business strategy. Every such partnership strengthens the momentum towards cleaner freight mobility, bringing us a step closer to transforming India's road logistics ecosystem. At GreenLine, we remain committed to enabling businesses across sectors to accelerate the transition to lower-emission transportation."

Samrat Sehgal, Global Director of Supply Chain, Dabur India, said, "Reducing the environmental footprint of our supply chain is an important part of Dabur India's sustainability roadmap. Our partnership with GreenLine enables us to integrate lower-emission transportation into our logistics operations while maintaining efficiency and reliability. We believe collaborations like these will play a key role in building a more sustainable and future-ready supply chain."

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Euler Motors has announced a collaboration with Green Drive Mobility to deploy four-wheeler electric cargo vehicles across mid-mile and last-mile operations. The partnership has deployed approximately 50 units, with plans to reach 500 units during the financial year across Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The deployment features Euler’s Storm LR and TURBO EV 1000 models, targeting a total of 1,000 electric cargo vehicles by 2028.

Vani Rikhy Mehra, VP – Sales, Euler Motors, said, “Our collaboration with Green Drive Mobility marks an important step in expanding the role of electric commercial vehicles in India’s logistics ecosystem. Green Drive Mobility is one of the country’s most respected multi-stack EV fleet operators, and we are pleased to support their growth journey with Euler’s purpose-built electric cargo vehicles. Their disciplined approach to fleet expansion and their diverse enterprise customer base align closely with Euler’s commitment to building products and a service ecosystem that enable fleet operators to transition to electric with confidence – improving uptime, lowering operating costs, and reducing emissions at scale.”

Sagar Subramani, COO, Green Drive Mobility, added, “Our collaboration with Euler Motors reinforces our strategy of building a reliable, scalable, and technology-led electric logistics platform powered by the best vehicles from leading OEMs. Euler’s products bring strong payload performance and proven reliability, and their API-led approach fits seamlessly into our operations. As demand for sustainable logistics continues to grow across sectors, this collaboration will help us deliver consistent uptime and operational efficiency to our enterprise customers, while accelerating the shift to zero-emission mobility across India.”

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Bengaluru-based electric two-wheeler maker Simple Energy is set to unveil its first family e-scooter on 2 September 2026, entering the country's mass-market segment.

The mass-market EV is set to follow the Simple One and the Simple Ultra models.

Simple Energy states that the in-house developed new model is part of its robust R&D capabilities spanning proprietary software, technologies and advanced engineering solutions.

The company is said to be the first Indian OEM to commercially manufacture heavy rare-earth-free electric motors.

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Billion Electric Mobility has announced a partnership with J K Cement to deploy over 150 heavy-duty electric trucks during the financial year. The project has commenced with the deployment of 20 electric trucks from J K Cement's Muddapur plant in Karnataka, transporting cement to stockyards in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.

At present, Billion Electric provides an electric freight platform that includes vehicles, charging infrastructure, fleet operations and route management. ChargeZone's charging network supports operations across corridors in Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa, with locations including Nipani, Satara, Pune, Karad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Goa, Hubli and Davanagere.

Sanjeev Kulkarni, CEO, Billion Electric Mobility, said, "The decarbonisation of India's freight sector will be driven by enterprises that are willing to lead from the front. J K Cement's commitment demonstrates that heavy-duty electric mobility is no longer a future aspiration but a commercially viable reality. Through Billion Electric's integrated eMaaS platform, supported by ChargeZone's expanding high-speed charging network, we are enabling businesses to transition to electric freight with confidence while building the infrastructure backbone needed to scale zero-emission logistics across the country."

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