Internal combustion engines won't go away anytime soon, no plans for hybrids, says Tata Motors' N Chandrasekaran

Natrajan Chandrasekaran, the Chairman of Tata Motors says while there is a big push towards electric vehicles, the internal combustion engine is not going to go away anytime soon.

Chandrasekaran was addressing the shareholders at the 78th Annual General Meeting on Tuesday.

The focus on multi powertrain has helped the brand bring in incremental sales to Tata Motors. However, has no plans to bring in "hybrid vehicles", a technology that the market leader Maruti Suzuki along with its alliance partner Toyota Motor is betting on, for the Indian market.

He added that by the end of this decade, the EV penetration for passenger vehicles will be 50%, which essentially means, the balance vehicles will be powered by internal combustion engines like petrol, diesel and CNG.

“Currently we don’t have any plans for Hybrid, we are focused on EV, on CVs, on heavy trucks, we will have hydrogen trucks,” added Chandrasekaran.

While the company has committed about US$ 2 billion on its EV business through its subsidiary Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, it has committed Rs 8,000 crore on its standalone entity in FY24.

On the long-term growth potential of the market, Chandrasekaran said, "The Indian market will move towards 10 million units per annum over time and Tata Motors is well positioned to capture the growth as well as gain market share."

Also read: Tata Motors to launch 4 new EVs in a few quarters, says Chairman, N Chandrasekaran