As per a senior executive at Tata Motors, the company is planning to expand its sales outlets across Tier II and Tier III cities to meet the growing demand for its electric models from these regions.
Tata Motors, which sold approximately 19,000 electric vehicle units in the first quarter, is also considering creating a separate sales infrastructure for its electric vehicle portfolio.
Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director of Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, highlighted that the adoption of electric vehicles is now spreading beyond the top 20 cities in India.
He stated, “With the bias now moving to other parts of the country…that’s a good sign in terms of how the EV sales will grow from here.” Chandra pointed out that more than 49% of the Tiago EV sales were now coming from cities beyond the top 20.
To tap into the potential of these smaller cities, Tata Motors is expanding its network through a shop-in-shop concept. The company is also focused on enhancing service capabilities and training service engineers for these locations.
Chandra revealed that they may consider separating EV showrooms from existing sales outlets in certain cities when the volumes reach a viable level.
Regarding margin improvement, Chandra expressed optimism due to efforts in localizing production and reducing the cost of new-generation aggregates.
The production-linked incentive scheme for Tiago EV as well as a decrease in battery cell prices are expected to contribute to the overall growth of the EV segment. Tata Motors aims to sell around 1 lakh EV units this year and is confident about the strong outlook for the EV business in the medium term.
