Infosys signs 5-year deal with EV firm Smart Europe

India's second-largest IT services firm, Infosys, signed a five-year collaboration with automotive company Smart Europe GmbH on Thursday. The partnership aims to enhance Smart Europe's digital sales and customer experience.

According to an exchange filing, Infosys stated that the collaboration will refine Smart Europe's direct-to-customer (D2C) business model in Europe. It will also provide improved customer experience, data-driven personalisation, and engagement for existing and upcoming all-electric models.

Smart Europe GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Smart Automobile Co. Ltd, established to supply, sell, and service future smart vehicles in the European market. Smart Automobile Co. Ltd is a joint venture between Mercedes-Benz AG and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, with a 50-50 ownership stake, established in 2019.

Infosys said in a statement, "Through this strategic collaboration, Infosys will help Smart Europe GmbH redefine the online EV buying experience and apply state-of-the-art machine learning (ML) models to accurately forecast sales and aftersales demand."

Jasmeet Singh, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Manufacturing at Infosys, expressed his excitement about delivering cutting-edge technologies to innovative companies like Smart Europe GmbH. He stated that Infosys is committed to powering innovation-driven customer experiences across touchpoints through their automotive and mobility offerings. Singh added that leveraging their expertise in the domain and strong regional presence, they will help Smart Europe GmbH accelerate the adoption of cutting-edge digital solutions. 
 
Infosys plans to leverage its technical expertise and design thinking-led consulting approach to enable Smart Europe GmbH to derive "exceptional value" from software, data, and cloud investments. They will also assist Smart Europe GmbH in efficiently selling electric vehicles across 15 European countries using a D2C sales approach. Additionally, Infosys will support lead generation, prospect conversion, sales, and after-sales channels, providing end-to-end ownership and accountability. 
 
Dirk Adelmann, CEO of Smart Europe GmbH, expressed his pleasure in having Infosys as a partner in this journey. He believes that Infosys' strong leadership commitment and ability to drive end-to-end application development and maintenance with efficiency and effectiveness will help boost operational performance and user experience. 
 
In October, Infosys announced a five-year extension of its joint venture (JV) collaboration with Temasek, a global investment firm headquartered in Singapore. The extension aims to create impactful digital transformation and invest in digital talent in Singapore. 
 
For the fiscal second quarter ended September (Q2FY24), Infosys reported a 3.2% year-on-year rise in consolidated net profit attributable to owners of the company, amounting to ₹6,212 crore. This was a slight increase from ₹6,021 crore reported in the year-ago period. Sequentially, the consolidated net profit saw a 4.5% increase. The company's consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter ended September was ₹38,994 crore, up from ₹36,538 crore in Q2FY23.