Mumbai-based automaker Tata Motors aims to sell 50,000 electric vehicles by the end of its fiscal year ending March 31, company chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran said at a shareholders’ meeting on Monday.
By 2023/24, Tata — which manufactures passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses, luxury cars and construction equipment — is targeting 100,000 EV sales, according to Chandrasekaran, as reported by Reuters†
The pursuit of EVs follows a national plan to ensure that by 2030 up to 30% of total passenger car sales in India will be electric, up from about 1% today. E-scooters and e-bikes account for 80% of two-wheeler sales, up from 2% today. Given the high import duties imposed by the Government of India on electric vehicles, the success of local manufacturing will largely depend on the success of local manufacturing.
After attempting to bring its EVs to the Indian market, Tesla appears to have done so ceased attempts to set up a factory in the lands. Tesla usually takes a “try before buy” approach to entering new markets — it imports vehicles to see how sales are going before investing time and money in building a regional factory. Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari said Tesla was welcome to build a factory in the country, but it won’t allow the automaker to bring in vehicles from China to sell and service, so Tesla hasn’t moved forward with that. plan.
Tata currently sells three EV models, including Nexon EV, Tigor EV and the latest Nexon EV Max. Unlike the path many US automakers have taken to build new EV production lines from scratch, Tata says it can keep costs down for the Indian consumer by reusing a successful model with an internal combustion engine, the Nexon, and equipping it with a battery pack. The Nexon starts at around $19,000, which isn’t exactly cheap for the average Indian driver, but certainly within the range of the country’s upper-middle class.
Tata is responsible for 90% of India’s electric car sales and appears to be on track to meet its target of selling 50,000 EVs by March 2022. June sales results shows a total of 45,197 units sold, of which 3,507 were electric – the most Tata has ever sold, and a 433% increase from 658 last year.
Chandrasekaran was bullish on the course of Tata’s performance this fiscal year, with the overall supply situation, including semiconductors, improving and stabilizing.