Mahindra & Mahindra continues to plan for new products and investments, as well as firm up production plans. The company remains very optimistic about the gradual growth of electric vehicle penetration in the country over the coming years.
A senior official at the company said that the Mumbai-based auto major expected the transition to electric mobility to occur in stages with the fleet and sports utility segments leading the change in the domestic market.
“Our internal research tells us that 25% of the existing SUV buyers would like to consider an electric SUV as their next purchase. The research also tells us that over the next 2-3 years we will see this kind of transition happening,” said Rajesh Jejurikar, Mahindra & Mahindra Executive Director (Auto and Farm sectors).
He stated that the company expected to have electric SUVs in 20-30% of its vehicles by 2020.
Mahindra is betting big on green mobility and has five new electric sports utility vehicles. The first four are expected to be purchased between December 2024-2026.
The automaker will launch five electric SUV models under two brands. The XUV brand and the new electric-only brand “BE”.
Legacy brands will be included under the XUV marque, while the new electric model would fall under the “BE” brand.
Jejurikar elaborated on these trends by pointing out that electric penetration in the domestic marketplace will begin with households owning multiple vehicles. He added that the fleet segment would also move to electric very quickly if it is economically feasible.
Jejurikar said that the adoption of electric sedans and hatchbacks in the individual segment would slow down as customers wouldn’t like to pay more upfront for the car they need, and there is no charging infrastructure.
“In the SUV space, whether entry or mid-sized, there will be a much faster adoption as they are typically part of households which have more than one car,” he added.
Jejurikar said, “Currently, the penetration is 1% in the C segment and around 4% in the B segment..Is this 1 and 4% going to go up to 30 and 40% overnight, no it is not going to happen.”
He further said, “But we are going to see steps towards 10-15% and which is why 20-30% penetration in the next 4-5 years is a realistic road map for the segments in which we operate in.”
Jejurikar stated that the company will make a final decision on the manufacturing infrastructure of its electric sport utility vehicles over the next 3 to 6 months.
