Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) has announced that it is to invest in Zoomcar India and in Zoomcar Inc, its US incorporated holding parent company, in line with the automaker’s thrust on the shared mobility business. Under the deal, the Mahindra Group would invest up to Rs 176 crore in Zoomcar India or Zoomcar Inc, which would constitute an approximately 16 percent stake in Zoomcar Inc.
M&M says it has been keen to invest in the shared mobility space as a part of its strategy to promote and participate in sustainable mobility solutions, including multi-modal urban mobility and also electric vehicles.
Speaking on the development, Dr Pawan Goenka, managing director, Mahindra & Mahindra, said, “At Mahindra, we are playing a pioneering role in the shared mobility business and are looking forward to an impetus in it through this investment in Zoomcar. We are confident that this partnership with Zoomcar will help further our vision to transform mobility in the country, thereby creating a more connected ecosystem.”
In a tweet, Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, said: "Our journey in the shared mobility space is just beginning . . . "
Greg Moran, co-founder and CEO, Zoomcar (pictured above) said, “We are excited to welcome the Mahindra team on board for this next phase of growth, within the Indian self-drive mobility space. Our collaboration with Mahindra dates back to 2013 when we first kicked off in Bangalore. Most importantly, Mahindra shares Zoomcar’s vision for multi-modal urban mobility and we look forward to leveraging their diverse platform to help accelerate the transformation to a shared, electric mobility future for India."
Earlier in 2017, Mahindra and Zoomcar announced a partnership to introduce electric vehicles into the shared mobility space. Zoomcar recently launched Mahindra e20Plus electric vehicles across Mysore, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Going forward, it expects to add over 500 Mahindra EVs across more than 20 cities across India, in the first half of 2018.