WEF 2022: Confident of regaining leadership based on our new EV launches, says Mahindra group's Anish Shah
One of the first movers in the electric mobility space with launches like e-Verito, the Mahindra Group now plans a comeback in the electric vehicle (EV) space with a host of passenger cars slated to be announced in July this year, said the firm's MD and CEO Anish Shah to BT's Rahul Kanwal on the sidelines of the WEF at Davos.
- May 25, 2022,
- Updated May 25, 2022 8:22 PM IST
One of the first movers in the electric mobility space with launches like e-Verito to fulfill the government’s electric car procurement programme tender in 2017, the Mahindra Group now plans a comeback in the electric vehicle (EV) space with a host of passenger cars slated to be announced in July this year.
“We’ve been a leader in the space for many years and we’ve understood battery management systems, needs of consumers in this space, how electric cars are used, etc. Our approach was to directly leapfrog into born electric models. We’ll see a lot of that in the July-August time frame when we do a complete reveal of our electric plans,” Anish Shah, MD and CEO, Mahindra Group told Business Today’s Rahul Kanwal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Wednesday.
“We’re confident of regaining that leadership based on the models that we have planned for and the quality that we see. Appetite for electric cars will be very high,” he added.
There are three factors, he said, that will drive EV adoption in India. One being the cost of ownership, he said.
“If electric is going to be a lot more expensive then that adds to the cost. Second, is range anxiety and third is the infrastructure. These three things will drive the adoption of electric. It’s here to stay. We’ll be ready with our range of electric cars like the XUV700 that can take the leadership space. Over time, electric will phase out ICE,” he said.
Mahindra’s XUV700 has been one of its most successful launches in the recent past.
“The demand has actually surprised us. We sold 50,000 cars in three hours and we’re still getting more than 11,000 bookings every month. If you look at any other launch over last few months in this segment, there are very few launches that have gained anywhere close to these numbers and most have been far lower. The challenge now is to ramp up production. There have been supply side issues which have exasperated the problem and those have eased out a fair bit,” he added.
Talking about auto industry’s challenges, Shah said, over the last couple of years there have been challenges and commodity prices have been on a significant rise.
“It depends a lot on the geopolitical factors that play out. If things do settle down, then we [are] past the peak and the actions that have been taken already by the RBI and the government will settle things well,” he said.
“At this stage the question is whether inflation goes higher than what it is. My sense is it probably will not, given some of the actions that have been taken. Demand has been reasonable so far. We haven’t seen a drop off across the various industries that we’ve been in and based on that I’m cautiously optimistic,” he added.
One of the first movers in the electric mobility space with launches like e-Verito to fulfill the government’s electric car procurement programme tender in 2017, the Mahindra Group now plans a comeback in the electric vehicle (EV) space with a host of passenger cars slated to be announced in July this year.
“We’ve been a leader in the space for many years and we’ve understood battery management systems, needs of consumers in this space, how electric cars are used, etc. Our approach was to directly leapfrog into born electric models. We’ll see a lot of that in the July-August time frame when we do a complete reveal of our electric plans,” Anish Shah, MD and CEO, Mahindra Group told Business Today’s Rahul Kanwal on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos on Wednesday.
“We’re confident of regaining that leadership based on the models that we have planned for and the quality that we see. Appetite for electric cars will be very high,” he added.
There are three factors, he said, that will drive EV adoption in India. One being the cost of ownership, he said.
“If electric is going to be a lot more expensive then that adds to the cost. Second, is range anxiety and third is the infrastructure. These three things will drive the adoption of electric. It’s here to stay. We’ll be ready with our range of electric cars like the XUV700 that can take the leadership space. Over time, electric will phase out ICE,” he said.
Mahindra’s XUV700 has been one of its most successful launches in the recent past.
“The demand has actually surprised us. We sold 50,000 cars in three hours and we’re still getting more than 11,000 bookings every month. If you look at any other launch over last few months in this segment, there are very few launches that have gained anywhere close to these numbers and most have been far lower. The challenge now is to ramp up production. There have been supply side issues which have exasperated the problem and those have eased out a fair bit,” he added.
Talking about auto industry’s challenges, Shah said, over the last couple of years there have been challenges and commodity prices have been on a significant rise.
“It depends a lot on the geopolitical factors that play out. If things do settle down, then we [are] past the peak and the actions that have been taken already by the RBI and the government will settle things well,” he said.
“At this stage the question is whether inflation goes higher than what it is. My sense is it probably will not, given some of the actions that have been taken. Demand has been reasonable so far. We haven’t seen a drop off across the various industries that we’ve been in and based on that I’m cautiously optimistic,” he added.