Electric vehicles offering foreign auto companies a second chance in India: Report

India’s steady shift to electric vehicles is offering a second chance to auto companies whose traditional gasoline cars have not been as successful in making a mark in the country, according to Bloomberg.

High taxes, price-sensitive consumers, and logistics issues have made it difficult for foreign auto firms to thrive in India. However, with the emergence of electric vehicles, companies such as MG Motor India, Renault SA, and Nissan Motor alongside Volkswagen AG, may get a better stronghold, the newswire stated.

Whereas MG Motor holds just a sliver of the domestic passenger vehicle market, the previous month it laid out grand plans to garner a portion of India’s EV space, and aims to get three-quarters of sales in the country from electric cars by 2028, from a slew of 4-5 new models, most of which are going to be fully electric, media reports said.

MG Motor is constructing a second factory to manufacture electric vehicles with a US$ 607 million investment, to enable the company to bolster production output to 300,000 cars a year, and is also working towards building a battery assembly in the Western state of Gujarat, the newswire reported. Last month, Hyundai Motor said that it would build an EV ecosystem in Tamil Nadu, that would comprise a battery pack assembly, with a yearly capacity of 178,000 units, fit 100 charging stations on landmark highways and initiate new electric models by 2032, Bloomberg stated.

Electric vehicle sales were at 49,800 units last year, which translates to 1.3% of the 3.8 million passenger vehicles sold, as per BloombergNEF.

Volkswagen is supposedly looking to electrify 30% of its PV lineup in the country by the end of this decade and unveil its first EV car, the ID.4 next year in India.

Tesla too appears to be softening its position, with senior executives visiting the country last month to talk about the viability of local sourcing of components, Bloomberg said. Renault and Nissan are looking to invest US$ 600 million in the country to increase their car lineup, which includes two electric models, the newswire reported.