ELECTRIC VEHICLE

TATA MOTORS NON-COMMITTAL ON RAISING FUNDS FOR ITS ELECTRIC VEHICLE BUSINESS

At the Auto Expo 2023, Tata Motors showcased its new models, while being confident to be able to cater to the growing demand for electric vehicles in India, using the existing capacity at its three facilities.

Other than Tata Tiago, Tata Motors’ portfolio of electric vehicles includes Tata Nexon, Tata Punch and Tata Ace. The company shall soon be venturing into Generation-2 series products, while the Generation-3 series cars are expected to be pure electric vehicles.

While speaking to CNBC-TV18, the MD of the auto major, Shailesh Chandra, said that Tata Motors now clocks a production milestone of 5 million cars from March 3. However, he remained non-committal on rumours of a stake sale to further fund its EV business adding that they have enough cash for the next 2-3 years.

India is in the nascent stages of electrification, with electric vehicles forming about a percent of the passenger vehicle industry in India. Electric vehicles which constitute nearly 8 percent of Tata Motor India’s passenger vehicle volumes, exhibit their potential to gain further share as the adoption of the electric vehicle rises in India. It intends to expand its electric passenger vehicle portfolio to 10 by FY26, from less than 5 currently. At the Tata Motors launch event in September 2022, the Tiago EV showcased its stirring appeal of being available at a reasonable price at sub-Rs 10 lakhs. Tiago EV is a modified version of the existing Tiago ICE, along similar lines as the Nexon and Tigor EVs.

Tata Motors has sold an excess of 5,000 cars in the fleet segment and interestingly is the only player in India to provide electric vehicles in the fleet segment. The company is looking at expanding its electric vehicle availability to 165 cities from about 85 cities today, owing to expectations of good acceptance of Tiago EV in tier two and three cities. Additionally, the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Uber, which is 24-30 months shall deploy these vehicles from Tata Motors. New opportunities hold for the company with vehicle replacements, as modalities for vehicle replacement schemes were announced in Union Budget this year and are yet to be finalised. This could potentially provide a big trigger for electric vehicles. While FY23 was an exceptionally good year for the company owing to pent-up demand and easing of supply-side challenges of semiconductor availability, it expects to clock single-digit growth in FY24. Sales in the domestic and international markets for February 2023 stood at 79,705 vehicles, compared with 77,733 units during February 2022.