Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra on Tuesday said it plans to launch 16 electric vehicles (EVs) by 2027 across SUV and light commercial vehicle categories to strengthen its leadership position in India's electric mobility segment. The company, which has set a cumulative revenue growth target of 15-20 per cent by 2025, is keeping its options open to either bring in private equity investors or carve out its EV business into a separate entity to drive its growth. M&M, which has already announced plans to invest Rs 3,000 crore in EVs, is also considering a new brand name for the electric SUVs that it will launch by 2027.
Automobile giant Tata Motors' shares were in demand on Wednesday as the stock rallied as much as 3.69 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 671.80 per share, before settling 3.18 per cent higher at Rs 668.45. By comparison, the BSE Sensex settled 0.10 per cent, or 72.56 points, lower at 74,029.76.
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) on Wednesday forayed into the fast-growing domestic electric mobility market with the introduction of e-scooters, ACTIVA e: and QC1, with swappable and fixed batteries. With this, the Japanese two-wheeler maker will now be competing with other legacy players such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, TVS Group as well as pure EV players like Ather and Ola, who already have a good presence in the segment, which is growing at 34 per cent year-on-year.
In the hottest sector of AI, where most global VC funding is going currently, the country's record has not been anything to write home about.
Passenger vehicle dispatches in India from factories to dealers rose to record levels at over 43 lakh units in FY25, with utility vehicles accounting for 65 per cent of the total sales in the segment, industry body SIAM said on Tuesday. Passenger vehicle (PV) dispatches rose to 43,01,848 units in the last fiscal year, marking a 2 per cent increase compared to 42,18,750 units in FY 2023-24.
The all-new ZS EV will be available in two variants -- Excite and Exclusive, priced at Rs 21.99 lakh and Rs 25.88 lakh, respectively. The company said it has initiated bookings for the Exclusive variant, while bookings for the Excite trim will commence from July 2022. The model comes with the largest in-segment 50.3-kWh (kilowatt-hour) battery with advanced technology, offering a 461-km certified range in a single charge.
Sluggish urban demand, a high base effect, and weak sales of hatchbacks and sedans weigh down passenger vehicle sales in FY25.
Dealers said the discounts this March are higher than the same month in the previous year.
Ola Electric has eliminated its regional warehouses across India, and will now leverage its 4,000 retail stores nationwide for maintaining vehicle inventory, spare parts, accessories, and last-mile deliveries. The strategic move is expected to boost EBITDA margins by almost 10 percentage points, besides improving inventory management and faster customer deliveries, sources directly familiar with the matter said.
'We will have multiple engine options -- electric vehicle and internal combustion engine in diesel and petrol.'
Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI), India's second-largest two-wheeler maker, on Wednesday revealed its electric vehicle (EV) roadmap, which includes setting up a dedicated EV factory, launching the first two EVs in 2023-24, and establishing 6,000 battery exchange points in the country. HMSI plans to establish a specialised unit for the manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs), named 'Factory E', at its Narsapura plant located in Karnataka. Factory E will be created by converting an existing production line that currently manufactures internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, said Atsushi Ogata, HMSI managing director and chief executive officer.
After a successful tie up in traditional ICE and strong hybrid models, Suzuki and Toyota are now set to take their partnership to the next level: the electric vehicle segment. Both the Japanese auto giants recently announced a plan to produce Suzuki eVX-based SUV which will be sold under Toyota brand across the globe. This electric SUV, bearing Toyota's logo, will go for production at Suzuki Motor Group (SMG) facility in Hansalpur, Gujarat beginning the spring of 2025, marking the first EV launch for both companies in India.
With only a handful of models by a few manufacturers including Tata Nexon, MG ZS, Hyundai Kona, among others, the segment has remained under tapped.
'I am not an aspiration-oriented politician.' 'This is the time to redefine politics.' 'Politics of power is not real politics.'
Driven by a rise in sales during the current year, German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz said on Thursday that the company is expecting a growth in sales of around 8-10 per cent in the next few years. This comes at a time when the company is ready to surpass the previous highest sales of 15,538 vehicles (2018) in 2022. During the first half, the company sold 7,600 units. It already has an order bank of around 7,000 vehicles. In 2021, the company sold 11,242 vehicles.
'If it is your second car (electric vehicle), you typically keep it for travel within the city.' 'And the first car (internal combustion engine-run vehicles) can then be used to travel to some other cities.'
Tata Motors on Wednesday expanded its electric vehicle range in the country with the launch of Nexon EV MAX, priced between Rs 17.74-19.24 lakh (ex-showroom). Equipped with a 40.5 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, the Nexon EV Max offers 33 per cent higher battery capacity than the Nexon EV, delivering ARAI certified range of 437 km (under standard testing conditions), ensuring uninterrupted inter-city travel. ARAI refers to Automotive Research Association of India. The model produces 105 kW (143 PS) of power and delivers a torque of 250 Nm, resulting in 0 to 100 sprint times in under 9 seconds.
'The favourable rupee-dollar exchange rate, there are opportunities we can tap.'
Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicle (SMEV) on Thursday said sales of EVs in India fell 20 per cent in the financial year 2020-21 to 236,802 units. In 2019-20 sales of electric vehicles (EVs), including electric two-wheelers (E2W), electric three-wheelers (E3W) and electric four-wheelers (E4W), stood at 295,683 units. For FY21, the E2W segment sales declined by 6 per cent to 143,837 units, as compared to 152,000 units in FY20, SMEV said in a statement, adding that the FY21 E2W sales included 40,836 high-speed and 103,000 low-speed E2W. The E3W segment registered sales of 88,378 units as against 140,683 units sold in FY20.
On the exports front, Bajaj is under pressure in Bangladesh and Africa. On the domestic front, it could ride improvement in rural demand and new launches but it also has to cope with competitive intensity and a high base. The management projects 7-8 per cent volume growth in domestic 2W in financial year 2025 (FY25) with moderation in H2FY25 due to a high base Y-o-Y.
Amid challenging market environment, Maruti Suzuki India and Mahindra & Mahindra reported an increase in vehicle dispatches to dealers last month while Tata Motors and Hyundai saw a year-on-year drop in sales.
'In terms of incentives, if you think about it, hybrids are a 20-year-old technology.'
Ola Electric's initial public offering (IPO), of Rs 5,500 crore, is essentially aimed at ensuring the company maintain its top position in the electric two-wheeler segment, with incumbent players TVS and Bajaj Auto giving a fight to the number one player in market share. Most experts and competitors say the amount being raised is in line with the investment required to expand the electric-vehicle (EV) business. There are two discernible trends in the competitive electric two-wheeler market.
The Softbank-backed company has set a price band of Rs 72 to Rs 76 per share for the maiden share sale and is expected to test the appetite for new-age loss-making companies.
India has a history of jugaad, and retrofitting vehicles is one such manifestation of the legendary Indian skill. Not so long ago autorickshaws and small Marutis used to strap on subsidised LPG cylinders and power themselves to a cheap ride. There were the odd explosions, lives were lost, but the jugaad continued. Then compressed natural gas (CNG) was introduced in Delhi following a court order. Initially, customised CNG kits were fitted to conventional (internal combustion engine or ICE) autos cheaply, enabling commuting at less than half of what you would cough up for diesel. The industry is better organised now with Suzuki and Hyundai designing CNG-fired vehicles, and Mahindra and TVS manufacturing liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-powered three wheelers.
Bajaj Auto's market capitalisation (market cap) hit Rs 2 trillion mark for the first time. The stock of the two and three-wheeler major rallied 6 per cent to hit a new high of Rs 7,420 on the BSE in Tuesday's (January 9) intraday trade after its board approved Rs 4,000 crore share buyback at Rs 10,000 per share. The stock ended the day at Rs 7,093.75, up 1.55 per cent and its market cap a shade above Rs 2 trillion.
Maruti Suzuki India will launch electric vehicles in the country only after 2025 as demand for such vehicles at the moment is less and it would like to sell around 10,000 units a month whenever it enters the electric mobility space, company chairman RC Bhargava said on Wednesday. Addressing a virtual conference on the company's second quarter earnings, he said under the current circumstances a lot of things in the EV ecosystem such as batteries, charging infrastructure and electric supply are done by other parties and therefore the costing is not in the hands of the company. Also with fuel prices going up, car market leader Maruti Suzuki India is intensifying its focus on more CNG offerings of its models.
Bengaluru outpaced Mumbai, Delhi, and Pune in 2023 to become India's leading city for electric car registrations. The city's tech-savvy workforce, increased acceptability, zero road tax, subsidised electricity for EV charging, and a wide charging station network contributed to this surge. Electric car registrations in Karnataka's capital surged more than threefold in 2023 to 8,690 units, overtaking the growth witnessed in the other three cities, according to data from Jato Dynamics
Ola Electric will roll out its complete offering of electric scooters and motorcycles in each segment of the market - premium, mass premium, and economical - in the next 12 months in a bid to push for a near-full conversion of the two-wheeler market to electric in three years. According to Bhavish Aggarwal, founder and CEO of Ola Electric, "ICE (internal combustion engine) products will fall off a cliff." He also says the company is aiming to become profitable next year.
Major two-wheeler (2W) manufacturers in India witnessed a single-digit decline in domestic sales in November after dispatches had picked up in October for the festive season when wholesales went up by 14 per cent and retail also grew by 36 per cent.
The only silver lining in March's performance -- which otherwise dragged down the financial year's momentum -- was a 6 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth compared to March of the previous year. This is largely due to incentives, festival-driven gains, and new launches.
In light of the recent incidents involving scooters from prominent electric mobility brands bursting into flames, the subject of electric vehicle (EV) safety has come under the spotlight. As many as 20 electric scooters of Nashik-based Jitendra EV Tech caught fire after being loaded on a transport container. While no one has been reported injured, the company said it is conducting an investigation to find the 'root cause' of the fire.
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.
Tata Motors is looking to ramp up the production of electric vehicles as demand continues to outpace the manufacturing activity by a huge margin, according to a top company official. The Mumbai-based automaker, which led the passenger electric vehicle space in the domestic market in last fiscal year, has been receiving an average of 5,500-6,000 bookings in the past two months for its EV range. The company sells three electric products -- Nexon EV, Tigor EV and XPRES-T -- in the domestic market.
This is not the first EV that Mercedes would be making in India though. It has been making the EQS sedan here for the last 18 months, and has sold 500 units of the car.
...But sales of domestic passenger vehicles dropped 2% to 3% year-on-year in August owing to low demand.
Domestic rating agency ICRA on Monday said Indian companies are likely to clock 7-8 per cent revenue growth during the March quarter of the current fiscal year, led by revival in rural demand and uptick in government spending. ICRA expects the private capital expenditure (capex) cycle to remain measured in view of the uncertainties around geopolitical developments and relatively subdued outlook on merchandise exports from India.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and two other public sector oil firms will install 22,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations over the next 3-5 years to support the nation's target to reduce its carbon intensity and reach net zero emissions by 2070. IOC, the country's largest state-controlled refiner by capacity, will set up EV charging facilities at 10,000 fuel outlets over the next three years, chairman Shrikant Madhav Vaidya said. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) said it will set up 7,000 stations over the next five years while Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has plans for 5,000 stations.
'That way you're not hostage just to US sort of exports to India.'
'The customer is fast changing, and she demands newer experiences that wealth can buy.'
