On Monday, Indian auto-giant Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) unveiled its five new electric sports utility vehicles (e-SUVs) — XUV.e8, XUV.e9, BE.05, BE.07 and BE.09, under XUV and BE, its two EV brands. While the first e-SUV, XUV.e8, will be launched in December 2024, the remaining will roll out in the next two years. The chairperson of M&M, Anand Mahindra expressed his belief that the brand could lead the e-4Wheeler market supported by its vast R&D network spread globally and the skills it learnt through its electric 3-wheeler business. Mahindra also showcased its new INGLO platform that will support all its EVs in the future. With investment plans of over $1 billion, the auto-maker raised Rs 70,070 crore from British International Investment earlier this year.
The Emerging Sector
Mahindra, while unveiling his company’s electric mobility vision, said, “Today with the government support, rapid fall in total cost ownership and increased consumer awareness of environmental issues, we believe the time is ripe for us to enter the 4-wheeler market. Also, we have bigger plans in electric 4-Wheeler not just for India, but around the world”.
Currently, Tata Motors dominates the Indian EV segment. But our country, so far, has not performed up to the mark in the domain of e-4Wheelers. Although we are pacing fast to catch up with the West and our neighbour China lately, we still have a long way to go.
Partnership With Volkswagen
Managing Director & CEO of Mahindra Group, Anish Shah expects that by 2027, around 25% of their SUV sales will come from EVs. Mahindra has also partnered with the German automaker Volkswagen for cooperation and exploration in the EV segment. It will have over one million units of volume over lifetime, while also including the equipment of five e-SUVs with MEB components. The new design centre of excellence, Mahindra Advanced Design Europe (M.A.D.E) in Oxfordshire was also inaugurated on the occasion.
Close competitors Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki are also in line to gain the expanding market share of EVs. Suzuki aims to launch its first EV in 2025, and has invested close to Rs10,000 crore for its development and production. Tata, on the other hand, plans to roll out 10 EVs in five years with around USD 200 crores of investment.
