Indian Auto Major Plans 4 New Affordable Electric Vehicles In $1,500 Range

Indian automobile company Mahindra and Mahindra wants to focus on the affordable electric vehicles category rather than the premium high priced electric vehicles sold by the likes of Tesla. India is a low income country and a vast majority of cars are still sold in the $10,000 and below bracket compared to the $30,000-$40,000 bracket in developed countries. Also the subsidy given by the government is only $2,000 for electric vehicles in India, compared to the $5,000-$10,000 subsidy given by the U.S. and other countries. This means that it is not possible to sell high priced Model S cars in India at least not in sizable numbers.

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While the Indian government has come out with an ambitious target of completely electrifying its entire car fleet by 2030, not enough vehicles are in the affordable electric vehicles category currently to allow this to fructify. Mahindra already sells a couple of affordable  electric vehicles though the numbers are not that high compared to the size of the Indian market.

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Mahindra wants to target the commercial category consisting of the cabs first, before moving on to the other segments. The company is planning to launch 3-4 vehicles in this category over the next 4 years. The company already has a first mover advantage in the electric vehicles category and wants to keep this advantage going forward. Some other Indian automobile companies such as the Tatas have also announced their plans to step up the gas in the electric vehicles segment as the whole world is moving towards cleaner cars.