'Electrification opening up markets where regulations were entry barriers': Tata Motors’ Girish Wagh 

Girish Wagh, Executive Director of Tata Motors, said electrification opens up many markets where regulations were the entry barriers.

The top company executive believes that transitioning to zero-emission vehicles will allow Tata Motors' commercial vehicle business to have a much larger international footprint.

Wagh informed that Electric Vehicles, a new engine portfolio developed with Cummins, and retail finance tie-ups in international markets are three key factors that will help Tata Motors expand its global footprint.

The International business is one of the eight important business units that Tata Motors carved out recently, to have a more significant non-domestic business. This allows the company to de-risk itself from domestic cyclicality.

“We want to increase the percentage of revenue from non-domestic product businesses in the overall CV portfolio. We do want the international business to have a higher growth rate than the domestic vehicle business,” he added.

He elaborated that these are “more profitable businesses and help reduce the volatility of the domestic vehicle business.”

Wagh added that EVs would open many new markets for the company. "As we create our electric platforms, we will leverage those, whether in buses or goods-carrying vehicles," he said.

The company has already introduced its ACE electric vehicles in the SAARC markets and piloted electric buses in sub-Saharan Africa and Wagh assured that it is looking at markets beyond that.

"For international growth, having the right product portfolio is very important. The migration of emission norms and other regulatory norms in India allows us to be in more markets," he added.  

Wagh reminded that COVID forced Tata Motors to ‘completely revisit its international business,’ most markets in SAARC, Sub-Saharan Africa, or the Middle East have not yet returned to their pre-COVID levels.

As the company has introduced BS6 phase 2 products, the Tata Motors' portfolio has become more competitive in these markets. "We are also working on higher power-to-weight ratio powertrains in our JV with Cummins, and those are some we will be able to introduce," he added.

So far, the focus has been on maintaining share in markets where they are present in, and ensuring the profitability of their distributors, besides equaling profitability at lower toplines.

As markets return to pre-COVID levels, Wagh expects the Middle East, North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa to show higher growth.