'The favourable rupee-dollar exchange rate, there are opportunities we can tap.'
MSIL, which currently has a subscription service that allows customers to lease its petrol-run and strong hybrid vehicles on a flexible, long-term basis without ownership commitments, will introduce a leasing service as well.
The auto major is not just looking at domestic sales, but also planning to ramp up exports to key markets from here, like the Middle East, North Africa and Australia.
'Currently, EVs are about 30-50 per cent more expensive than ICE vehicles. I believe the inflection point for EVs will come when this price gap narrows to 20-25 per cent. That's when people will start coming in.'
'The path beyond diesel is not going to be clear. It is really going to be dependent on applications.'
About 99,165 electric cars were sold in India in 2024, but electric car penetration -- share of electric car sales in total sales -- was just about 2.5 per cent.
The project is critical as the region expects huge investments in the automotive, renewable energy, and space sectors.
Chinese electric carmaker BYD is focusing on launching vehicles in the Rs 25-45 lakh price range in India even as it continues to evaluate customer preferences and demand in more affordable segments, its Head of Electric Passenger Vehicles in India Rajeev Chauhan told Business Standard.
The Eicher Pro X is assembled on an all-women assembly line.
However, while Splendor's annual sales surged 31.7 per cent to 3.638 million units between 2019 and 2024, Hero's other models suffered sharp drops.
'This market for diesel starts at around Rs 6.3 lakh and goes up to Rs 7 lakh, and with Saathi we have our usual price set at Rs 6.5 lakh, so we are slightly on the lower side with a superior product.'
The charging infrastructure expansion includes the setup of over 600 DC charging stations by 2030 (including company-owned and company-operated ones) in addition to partnerships with over 10,200 charging points, collaborating with operators like Shell, Charge Zone, and Statiq.
Tata Motors is the leader in the electric car market with about 62 per cent share.
However, the company has not provided a timeline for the launch of the small electric car.
Hero MotoCorp anticipates a big rebound in two-wheeler (2W) sales in rural India over the next four to eight quarters, driven by favourable factors such as a decent monsoon, rising crop prices, improved employment conditions, and increasing consumer confidence, its chief executive officer (CEO) Niranjan Gupta said on Wednesday. Amid tepid rural sales, he stated that there is a "strong case" for GST (goods and services tax) on entry-level two-wheelers, which are under 125 CC, to be moved down from 28 per cent to 18 per cent as they are used by "masses".
Numeros Motors is also planning to come up with a passenger vehicle four-wheeler or a three-wheeler by 2027.
In the shadows of a sliding rupee, India's knitwear hub Tiruppur is weaving a success story. While the domestic currency edges closer to the 86 mark against the US dollar, triggering concerns for many sectors, this textile town in Tamil Nadu is finding opportunity in adversity: Between April and December alone, Tiruppur's exports reached Rs 26,000 crore, almost eclipsing last financial year's total of Rs 30,690 crore.
'Without his vision and foresight, his willingness to take a risk that no one else was willing to take, his deep and abiding love for India, the Indian automobile industry could not have become the powerhouse that it has become.'
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions saw an 8 per cent month-on-month increase in volume to 16.73 billion in December, the highest volume for the digital system since it became operational in April 2016. The value also increased by 8 per cent to Rs 23.25 trillion, up from Rs 21.55 trillion in November.
From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation.