'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.'
Having established its presence in the country, luxury carmaker Lexus is now looking to chart its next phase of growth in India as it looks to consolidate sales network and drive in new models, including fully electric cars in the country, according to a top company official. The company, which is the luxury car arm of Japanese auto major Toyota, initiated operations in India in 2017 and currently sells seven models in the country, including the locally-produced ES 300h sedan. Known for its self charging hybrid cars, the company is now gearing up to drive in battery electric vehicles, besides ramping up its existing product portfolio in the market.
New Delhi's timing couldn't have been worse, both for India's fledgling electric vehicle (EV) sector and prospective electric bike buyers. It was hard to miss the perfect storm brewing for India's EV industry since early 2022. On one hand, you had several accidents involving battery fires that unnerved consumers; on the other, uncertainty had crept in over subsidies.
Tata Group on Wednesday announced an investment of 4 billion pounds (about Rs 42,500 crore) in setting up a flagship factory to make batteries for Jaguar Land Rover as well as other manufacturers. Tata Sons, owner of JLR, chose Bridgwater in Somerset in southwest England for the gigafactory over a rival location in Spain. The gigafactory, at 40GWh, will be one of the largest in Europe and Tata's first outside of India, the conglomerate said in a statement.
The state is also the biggest market for TVS, another incumbent player, and together with Bajaj Auto, they accounted for 88 per cent of Maharashtra's total electric scooter sales last month. As many as 8,417 units were sold in Maharashtra in September. Bajaj Auto's contribution was 4,048 vehicles and that of TVS was 3,389, according to model- and state-wise data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (Siam).
Automobile (auto) retail sales in India grew by an impressive 14 per cent in July compared to the same period last year, driven by a surge in the rural economy, good product availability, and product launches. While passenger vehicles (PVs) saw a 10 per cent increase during this period, inventory levels have surged to a historic high of 67-72 days in PVs, equating to Rs 73,000 crore worth of stock, according to the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (Fada). This poses a risk to dealer sustainability. Inventory levels in July 2023 were only 50-55 days, equating to a stock worth Rs 49,833 crore. In June 2024, inventory was between 62 and 67 days, with a stock value of Rs 60,000 crore.
India's three-wheeler exports, which have been on a downhill trajectory over the past few years, are showing no signs of recovery in FY25, with key markets like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Egypt witnessing subdued demand. In May, the country's exports plummeted 11.3 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y).
Tata Motors is looking to increase passenger vehicle prices from next month in order to make its model range compliant with stricter emission norms which kick in from April 1 next year, according to a top company official. In an interaction with PTI, Tata Motors Managing Director - Passenger Vehicle and Electric Vehicles Shailesh Chandra said the price revision would also offset the impact of commodity prices, which have remained high for the most part of the year. "The regulatory change will have its impact on the cost. Even the real impact of softening of commodity prices is only going to come from next quarter and we still have the residual impact of the commodity escalation that we have seen during the year," Chandra said.
The Warren Buffet-backed Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer BYD will be unveiling a Born Electric SUV for the Indian market by the fourth quarter of the current calendar year. The deliveries of the same would begin in January, the company's top official said. This will be the first Born Electric SUV in the mass market. The Born Electric models from Tata Motors and Mahindra and Mahindra would be launched from 2024. BYD has been selling the E6 MPV in the Indian market since 2021.
Seven electric two-wheeler companies have suffered a cumulative loss of over Rs 9,000 crore on account of unpaid dues and loss of market after their subsidies were stopped last year, the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV) said on Wednesday. These companies have also been directed by the govt to refund the subsidies availed by them. The audit by SMEV's chartered accountants indicates the total, cumulative damages to affected companies could account for over Rs 9,000 crore on a conservative basis, it noted.
India is sceptical that Tesla might import into the country cars made in China. Tesla executives were in India last month and appear to have proposed a factory in the country. But do not be surprised if that does not happen in a hurry.
US-based chipmaker Micron Technology is expecting demand for semiconductors to rise significantly in the next few years, globally and in India, as memory consumption is going up, largely driven by the widespread adoption of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). "Memory consumption is expected to double by the end of the decade and the biggest driver in this is AI. "While it's natural to talk about compute and GPUs (graphics processing units) in the context of AI, it is not to be forgotten that the true enabler for AI is memory ... in all the AI engines that we talk about, there is a lot of need to access memory quickly," Anand Ramamoorthy, managing director, Micron Technology India, told Business Standard.
With rising petrol and diesel prices driving up demand for its CNG vehicles, the country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India plans to widen its CNG portfolio by offering the fuel option in four more models 'very shortly', according to a senior company official. The company, which plans to launch an electric vehicle (EV) in the Indian market by 2025, is also currently keeping a close watch on the country's EV ecosystem "to find out what is the best way of evolution" to be able to offer affordable EVs with hassle free charging infrastructure in order to clock high volumes for a sustainable business.
Amid a shift in mobility trends and people increasingly opting for less polluting energy sources, sales of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles increased more than 82 per cent in the past five years. A total of 729,902 CNG vehicles were sold in 2022-23 against 400,825 in 2017-18, according to VAHAN Dashboard. Though the increase in sales of CNG-powered vehicles has been significant, their share in overall vehicle sales remains minuscule as is the case with EVs.
So far at least eight incidents of EV fires have been reported in just over a month's time.
With increased consumer awareness and government support in place, it is the opportune time to enter the electric passenger vehicle segment, Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra said on Monday. With an eye on gaining leadership in the electric four-wheeler segment, the Indian auto major announced that it will launch five new electric Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) for both domestic and international markets, with the first four expected to hit the road between 2024 and 2026. The company would introduce the first of the five e-SUVs towards the end of 2024, starting with the Indian market.
Reliance Industries Ltd, India's most valuable company, on Friday reported a 5 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit as lower fuel cracks and petrochemical margins outdid gains in telecom and retail businesses. The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit was at Rs 15,138 crore, or Rs 22.37 per share, in April-June -- the first quarter of the current 2023-24 fiscal year -- compared to Rs 16,011 crore, or Rs 23.66 a share, earnings a year back, according to a company's statement.
By 2025, Uber projects that 25,000-30,000 cars -- or 12 to 16 per cent of vehicle additions -- would be EVs, reports Surajeet Das Gupta.
Bajaj Auto, the king of the market for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers, now wants to replicate this dominance in two-wheelers. The difference is that while the former is zooming - registrations for CNG-powered passenger three-wheelers nearly doubled during January-December 2023 - the latter, meaning a market for CNG-powered two-wheelers, does not exist.
'If we are to be a contributor to the economy, we have to reduce carbon and imports.' 'We will achieve both -- that's our target.'
Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, on Friday announced that it has commenced production at its second factory in Sanand, Gujarat, which it had acquired from Ford India last year. This new facility will unlock an additional manufacturing capacity of 300,000 units per annum, which is scalable to 420,000 units. The new facility is spread over 460 acres and is adjacent to Tata Motors' existing passenger vehicle facility in Sanand.
With sentiment for the automotive (auto) sector turning positive, stocks of two-wheeler auto majors have been hitting their 52-week highs. Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, TVS Motor Company, and Eicher Motors recently reached their yearly highs on strong sales in the festival season and the expectation of faster growth rates ahead. Since the start of this month, listed two-wheeler majors have delivered returns in the 12-17 per cent range, compared to the 7 per cent gains for the S&P BSE Auto Index and 3 per cent for the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex.
Aided by robust demand, automobile retail sales in India rose by 11 per cent last year as compared to 2022, dealers' body FADA said on Monday. The overall domestic automobile retail sales stood at 2,38,67,990 units in the 2023 calendar year as compared to 2,14,92,324 units in 2022. Passenger vehicle sales stood at 38,60,268 units last year, up 11 per cent from 34,89,953 units in 2022.
'And a majority will be in the top-end vehicle range.'
According to research by IHS Markit, for an ecosystem still grappling with infrastructure issues -- the high cost of EVs and a greater OEM (original equipment manufacturer) focus on electrifying two-wheelers and commercial vehicles first -- the share of such vehicles is expected to be 4 per cent by 2030, reports Pavan Lall.
India will have 30 per cent of its two-wheeler industry turning electric by 2030 as new manufacturers lead the shift, said a report on Monday. Passenger vehicles will be 15 per cent electric and the three-wheeler segment 75 per cent electric by 2030, said the report by BNP Paribas called 'India Autos-Electric vehicles: Minutes to midnight'. "We see FY22 as the year of inflection for the two-wheeler EV industry, with an accelerated EV adoption helped by incentives, wider availability, model launches, rise in crude prices and improved general awareness. We see 30 per cent of the 2W industry turning electric by 2030; the pace of incentive withdrawal presents an upside/downside risk," the report (India Autos - Electric vehicles: Minutes to midnight) said.
There's a hint of new competition riding into a sector that has attracted attention for being in a duopoly-like situation. Rapido, a commute app known for its budget-friendly bike-taxi services, on Tuesday announced its entry into the cab market, which is currently dominated by marquee brands Uber and Ola. Rapido's cab foray will be enabled by a software as a service (SaaS)-based platform.
The three companies - Ola, Hyundai and Kia - will co-create solutions to operate and manage fleet vehicles.
The government-appointed expert committee, which probes incidents of Ola Electric's S1 Pro and Okinawa vehicles catching fires, has added the latest case of fire involving PureEV electric scooter to its investigation, a senior government official told Business Standard. "A team comprising experts from Indian Institute of Science (IISC) and Centre for Fire, Explosive and Environment Safety (CFEES) are investigating the cases. "As soon as the report is submitted, we shall take appropriate action," said Giridhar Aramane, secretary at the ministry of road transport and highways.
To come up with first EV by 2025, expects market to grow two to three-fold in the next ten years.
'In terms of semiconductors, challenges do remain in the pan industry, but I think we are much better than where we were a year or so back.'
Tata Motors recently announced the launch of 'Dark' edition models of the Harrier, the Nexon, the Nexon EV and its premium hatchback, the Altroz. The 'Dark' editions add a premium touch to its existing models. In 2019, Tata Motors launched the Harrier in its 'Dark' avatar to customers looking for a bold, sophisticated and stylish SUV.
Ola Electric became the latest among electric scooter (e-scooter) makers to have started the exercise of recalling a specific batch of its model after a rap on the knuckles by the government. Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday advised electric vehicle (EV) companies to act responsibly by identifying and recalling defective batches without waiting for orders or guidelines from the ministry. The Bengaluru-based start-up is conducting pre-emptive diagnostics and health check on 1,441 scooters, it said in a statement on Sunday.
Based on discussions with stakeholders, the ministry is proposing to allocate Rs 26,400 crore for FAME-III subsidy alone with electric two wheelers getting around Rs 8,158 crore, electric buses Rs 9,600 crore and electric three-wheelers Rs 4,100 crore, according to sources in the know. Along with some other components like setting up an innovation fund and money for testing , the total allocation could cross Rs 33,000 crore, estimates suggest.
Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has ambitious plans to increase capacity. It is also seeking shareholders' approval for a complex swap transaction, which would acquire Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), a subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) through a preferential offer. SMC already holds 56.37 per cent of MSIL's equity.
Recently, TPEM's first born electric concept, Avinya broke cover. The model promises a minimum range of 500 kilometres and advanced technology features, aimed at buyers in India and outside. TPEM, the newly formed entity may also consider a separate dedicated sales channel for the EVs with a distinctive corporate identity once the volumes reach a critical mass and throughput is large enough for the dealers to be profitable, said Chandra. Elaborating further on the hiring strategy he said, "We will hire from everywhere-wherever the talent of the required competency is available."
India's electric two-wheeler (E2W) sector is expected to cross the one million mark in 2024 fuelled by rising demand, increased production, and affordability, industry experts said, even as several original equipment makers are expanding their penetration to rural areas. Improved battery technology and innovative features are also likely to fuel growth, they said. "E2W sales will breach the 1-million mark in 2024 as the demand for electric two-wheelers is expected to continue growing due to factors such as environmental awareness, government incentives, and improvements in technology," Hyder Khan, chief executive officer (CEO), Godawari Electric Motors, said.
The entry of SoftBank-backed Ola into the electric scooter (e-scooter) segment is set to power up the overall market and perhaps fast-track the adoption of battery-operated vehicles. But for manufacturers of internal combustion engine (ICE)-powered two-wheelers, such as Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, and TVS Motor, it will be a double whammy. Not only will they have to contend with the aggressive pricing of Ola's scooter and incur a loss at each unit of the e-scooter sold, the volumes of their regular (ICE) models, too, could feel the squeeze, observed analysts. Ola is expected to price its e-scooter in the range of Rs 85,000-1.1 lakh.
If you thought electric scooters have caught the fancy of only people in the metros, think again. According to data from electric two-wheeler maker, Ather Energy, 54 per cent of its sales of scooters, starting from Rs 1.2 lakh, come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Based on sales per lakh population, the top five cities for the company are Calicut, followed by Kochi, Kolaphur, Trivandrum and Pune.
Automotive (auto) and auto ancillary stocks have been in the fast lane thus far in 2023-24 (FY24), with the National Stock Exchange Nifty Auto Index surging nearly 27 per cent, outperforming the Nifty50, which has gained roughly 11 per cent during this period. The top-gear performance of auto stocks at the bourses, according to A K Prabhakar, head of research at IDBI Capital, has been triggered by the premiumisation of products across vehicle manufacturers, which has seen vehicle sales remaining relatively stable. "It is not about higher sales figures now, but about premiumisation.
