Prabhakar Kadapa Joins Etrio’s Board of Directors

Hyderabad-headquartered EV-maker Etrio Automobiles Pvt. Ltd. has announced that Prabhakar Kadapa, a veteran automotive leader with over 39+ years of industry experience, has joined its Board of Directors. Kadapa served most recently as the CEO & Managing Director at PSA AVTEC Powertrain Pvt. Ltd. (a JV of PSA Groupe, France and CK Birla Group) as well as the CEO & Managing Director at AVTEC Ltd (A CK Birla Group Company) – one of the largest powertrain and components manufacturers in India where he successfully created overseas manufacturing footprints and established strong international business for the company through M&A and JVs.

“After working actively for several decades in the automotive and EV industry, I am delighted to be a part of Etrio’s story,” said Mr. Prabhakar Kadapa, on joining Etrio.“Electric vehicles are here to stay. I am looking forward to helping Etrio launch a series of cutting-edge next-gen electric cargo vehicles and supporting strategic organizational development as electric vehicle volumes pick up in numbers,” he added.

Kalyan C Korimerla, MD & Co-Promoter, Etrio said, “We heartily welcome Prabhakar Kadapa into the Etrio family. He will bring into the Boardroom his several years of invaluable experience in developing strategy, developing and introducing new products, building strategic partnerships, managing supply chain and vendors, and building quality organizations. His extensive leadership experience in the automotive sector in general, and in the development of electric vehicle platforms in particular, will be valuable not only in helping the Company to create a strategic product roadmap for the near future, but also in stabilizing its current product portfolio of 4-wheeler and 3-wheeler electric cargo vehicles through operational and manufacturing efficiencies.”

Notably, Prabhakar Kadapa also formerly held multiple senior leadership positions at Tecumseh Products India Pvt. Ltd as CEO &MD, Delphi Automotive India Pvt. Ltd as Country Manager, JCB India as Operations Director and Mahindra & Mahindra as GM – Satellite Plants and R&D Function. Among other notable organizations he worked with in the past include BOSCH, L&T Construction Equipment, Timex Watches and Whirlpool India.

Founded in 2017 with a focus on electric cargo vehicles used in logistics, Etrio has developed a product portfolio of electric three-wheeler vehicles and industry-first electric four-wheeler light commercial vehicles with payloads ranging from 350 kg to 700 kg.

The firm counts e-commerce and logistics players such as Amazon, Flipkart, IKEA, Big Basket, Delhivery, LetsTransport, Gati, among its clients. Recently, Etrio, along with five other OEMs, won a tender floated by State-run Convergence Energy Services Ltd’s (CESL) to procure 1 lakh electric three-wheeler vehicles.