Mahindra to invest US$1.2 billion for EV manufacturing facility

Mahindra & Mahindra, one of India's major automakers, plans to build an EV plant in western India to catch up in the market dominated by Tata Motors.

According to Nikkei Asia, Mahindra announced an INR100 billion (US$1.2 billion)-investment plan spreading out 7-8 years to set up an EV manufacturing facility in Pune, Maharashtra. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government will provide subsidies to help Mahindra build the facility and fund the development and production of Mahindra's Born Electric platform, which is based on the Inglo platform, Electrive reports.

Regarding the global rollout, Anish Shah, CEO of Mahindra, told Reuters that Mahindra would sell its new family of electric SUVs around the world, but a US market entry could take longer than five years, adding that they will also have to think about manufacturing closer to some of the major markets in the future.

Mahindra changed tack on its EV strategy by collaborating with Volkswagen and introducing the latter's electric drives, batteries, and cells in the Born Electric platform. Shah told Reuters in May at the Davos forum that the world was moving towards more partnerships, and it is better to source the best rather than do everything ourselves.

According to The Economic Times, Mahindra raised INR19.25 billion in July from British International Investment for Mahindra to set up a newly incorporated subsidiary, EV Co., and focus on the electric four-wheeler business.

Tata Motors, along with its subsidiary Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles, dominate the Indian electric four-wheeler market with an 82% market share in the first 11 months of 2022. Besides, Maruti Suzuki and Hyundai are eying the Indian EV market and have announced a total of US$1.15 billion in the sector, Nikkei Asia reports. However, Mahindra sold a mere 373 electric four-wheelers for the first 11 months of 2022, compared with Tata Motors' 31,955 units, data from Vahan Dashboard shows.

Source: Vahan Dashboard, December 2022