The regulatory burden is the highest on small cars, a key segment of the Indian automobile industry and having a uniform tax structure across all segments of vehicles will not augur well for the sector growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India chairman RC Bhargava. He also said India's economic growth rate could be higher if the manufacturing sector grows fast, which 'unfortunately' has remained a laggard despite the best efforts of the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre due to implementation gaps at the ground level. "The burden of regulatory changes on the small cars is far higher than the regulatory burden on big cars and that is changing the whole market behaviour.
'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.'
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.
Govt will save Rs 30,000 cr in fuel by giving Rs 14,000 cr subsidy to industry for making electric vehicles.
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.
'While we have done a few thousand kilometres in India, most of the testing and data collection and analysis has been done in the US, Japan and Europe.'
The initial purchase cost for an electric car may be high, but savings on fuel will help it pay back for itself in just a couple of years, if not faster.
State governments need to focus on building charging infrastructure to realise the goal of transitioning a large proportion of their sales to EVs, reports Ishaan Gera.
It can go from 0 to 100 in mere 4 seconds.
The heavy industries ministry has asked US-based electric car major Tesla to first start manufacturing its iconic electric vehicles in India before any tax concessions can be considered, government sources said. They said that the government is not giving such concessions to any auto firm and giving duty benefits to Tesla will not send a good signal to other companies that have invested billions of dollars in India. Tesla has demanded reduction in import duties on electric vehicles (EVs) in India.
'The Indian govt's initiatives on EVs are very strong and customers want to buy EVs. This will make the country's conversion to EVs faster than other markets, and I hope even faster than the US'
Under the scheme, the government will provide financial incentives for each electric vehicle sold in India during the remaining part of the 11th Plan.
Ford, which had announced to quit the Indian market last year, said it was exploring the possibility of using one of its plants in India to produce electric cars for exports.
Tesla Inc, the world's largest electric car producer, is looking to make a significant investment in India, said its chief Elon Musk, who saw India as holding more promise than any other large country around the globe. Musk, after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said he plans to visit India in 2024. "I am confident that Tesla will be in India and we will do so as soon as humanly possible," Musk told reporters after the meeting.
Tata Motors, India's third-largest car maker, plans to use the platform of its low-cost small car Nano to build electric and hybrid cars.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said if the US-based Tesla is ready to manufacture its electric vehicles in India then there is 'no problem' but the company must not import cars from China. In an interactive session at the Raisina Dialogue, Gadkari further said India is a large market and there is a huge potential for all electric vehicles. "If Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) is ready to manufacture in India then there is no problem ... Come to India, start manufacturing, India is a large market they can export from India," he said. The road transport and highways minister said his request to Musk is to come and manufacture in India.
Harley Davidson, KTM-Bajaj, M&M make India production base for automobiles to be assembled and sold in China.
The EV industry is at an inflection point and batteries will play a critical role ahead -- batteries and related components typically constitute 35-45 per cent of an EV's costs.
The carmaker was waiting for the government to announce sops for green vehicles in the Budget that would have help price the car lower.
Analysts have predicted a 23 per cent volume growth for the auto segment between FY22 and FY25, riding on the company's differentiated EV and SUV plan. M&M is already a market leader with a 36 per cent share in electric three-wheelers, and its Zaheerabad plant in Telangana is ready to cater to demand. In the farm segment, the company plans to focus on niche electric products.
Several MPs on Monday made a statement against pollution in the national capital by riding bicycles, sporting masks and even choosing electric vehicles over fuel guzzlers as they arrived for the Winter Session of Parliament.
Given India's reliance on coal, electric vehicles could at best be 10% more efficient than petrol in terms of CO2 savings.
India will soon become a green hydrogen exporting country, the road transport and highways minister told reporters before leaving for Parliament in the car, which is the first of its kind in India.
Maharashtra is looking for potential investment from the US electric car major Tesla in the state and has held discussions with the company, weeks after Tesla revealed its plans to enter the Indian market.
SoftBank Group-backed Ola Electric is in talks with multiple global suppliers to build a battery cell manufacturing plant in India with a capacity of up to 50-gigawatt hours, sources said. As part of its broader electrification push, the firm plans to invest in companies with advanced cell and battery technology, alongside the 50 Gwh battery plant. Ola Electric needs 40 Gwh of battery capacity to power 10 million electric scooters annually. The remainder will be for its electric cars, which the company plans to manufacture in the future.
Foxconn means serious business in India. Its delegation to India was led by its Chairman Young Liu who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Parts of electric cars are costlier and repairing often means replacing an entire system, which drives insurance premium rates up.
In a boost to the electric vehicle boom in India, Taiwanese major Hon Hai Technology Group (aka Foxconn) is likely to set up an EV manufacturing unit in India through its subsidiary Foxtron. Amid speculation that the company may look at Tamil Nadu and probably the Ford India unit near Chennai for its new facility, sources indicate that the group was already betting big in the electric vehicle component space in India through Bharat FIH, which is already having a tie up with companies like Ola Electric and Ather. Bharat FIH currently has two manufacturing units in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur that manufactures phones like Apple iPhones and Xiaomi phones.
Dealerships, too, are going all out to roll out the red carpet for women.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, said he has "killed" the new 'official' label for certain verified Twitter accounts just hours after the feature was visible on multiple handles of governments, politicians, officials and media houses. Just hours after the feature went live, he hinted that it simply didn't work. "I just killed it," he said in a tweet replying to a web video producer Marques Brownlee's tweet of the 'official' label vanishing after a brief appearance.
Engineers based in India are estimated to be writing roughly 35 per cent of the 100 million lines of codes required to develop one fully driverless car for global vehicle makers.
India's expectation of Twitter complying with the country's rules for social media platforms will not change with its takeover by Elon Musk, according to a senior minister.
Formula One will have a new power unit from 2026 with the focus on sustainability and a more cost-efficient future.
Take a look at these dazzling cars of the future.
The government will come out with proposed modalities and terms of references for setting up grievance appellate committees to address social media users' complaints in the next 10-12 days, and expects the panel to be in place by November 30, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday.
'Some of the launches may get deferred due to the semiconductor shortage, which is unlikely to get resolved before the second half of 2022.'
German luxury car maker Audi on Thursday launched three all-electric SUVs under its e-tron range with prices starting from Rs 99.99 lakh kicking off its electrification journey in the country. The three all-electric SUVs -- e-tron 50, e-tron 55 and e-tron Sportback 55 -- are priced at Rs 99.99 lakh, Rs 1.16 crore and Rs 1.18 crore respectively (all prices ex-showroom), Audi India said in a statement. Commenting on the launch of the e-tron brand in India, Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon said, "we are launching not one, but three electric SUVs that begin our electrification journey." The three electric SUVs are "the perfect confluence of luxury, zero emissions, performance and everyday usability", he added.
Palo Alto-based electric carmaker Tesla has initiated talks with the government on the modalities of setting up fully-owned retail outlets. The company needs to comply with the foreign direct investment (FDI) guidelines related to single-brand retail, including local sourcing norms, to sell directly in India. At least two other foreign majors - Apple and Ikea - were engaged in talks with the government long before the sourcing norms were eased under the single-brand retail route.
German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz India on Thursday said it will hike prices of select models by up to two per cent from January 1, 2022, to offset feature enhancement and rising input costs. At the same time, Audi announced a price increase of up to 3 per cent across its entire model range, effective from January 1 next year. Mercedes, however, said it is committed to price protection to customers who have booked their cars and are waiting for more than four months for select models.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances