Maruti May Be Forced to Price eVitara At Around Rs 15 Lakhs Thanks to Mahindra BE 6

Weeks ago, Mahindra set the proverbial cat among pigeons with the BE 6e and the XEV 9e. And this could have massive ramifications for every other mass market electric SUV  lined up for launch in India. For starters, let’s take a look at the Maruti Suzuki eVitara.

In the run up to its January 2025 launch, talk around the Maruti eVitara’s pricing has centered around the Rs. 20-25 lakh mark. And Maruti’s modest volume expectations of about 1,000 units per month for the first 6 months meant that this pricing  even seemed logical. Well, that was until the Mahindra BE 6e happened.

In the Mahindra BE 6e, you get a 59 kWh battery for 18.9 lakh! Along with this, there’s the 225 Bhp-380 output from the electric motor that drives the rear wheels of the SUV coupe, making for some really blistering performance. And this is for the ‘base trim’.

Mahindra claims a range of 535 Kms, which means about 375 Kms of real world range. The BE 6e (temporarily called BE 6 thanks to Mahindra’s ongoing tiff with Indigo airlines) seems to have arrived as a ‘out-of-syllabus’ question.

15-18 Lakh is where the eVitara should start from!

A starting price of Rs. 15 lakh is what the eVitara needs, if it hopes to compete with the likes of the Mahindra BE 6 (59 kWh), the Tata Currv.EV (55 kWh), and even the higher trims of the Tata Nexon.EV (equipped with a 45 kWh battery). Both the BE 6, and the Curvv are larger than the eVitara on the outside. On the inside, the eVitara is likely to trump them both in terms of space for passengers.

The base trim of the eVitara will be offered with a 49 kWh ‘Blade’ battery pack from BYD. This should give it a real world range of about 320 Kms. Power and torque for the front wheel drive variant stands at 142 Bhp-189 Nm – modest numbers given what the competition now offers.

So, purely going by the spec sheet, the logical starting price for the eVitara should be about 15 lakh. Anything more than this number, the eVitara could end up being yet another Jimny for Maruti Suzuki.

Now, let’s look at the higher trim of the eVitara – the one that gets a bigger 61 kWh battery, dual motors, all wheel drive and higher outputs of 172 Bhp-189  Nm (going all the way up to 184 Bhp-300 Nm on the all wheel drive trims). Real world range? About 400-420 Kms.

This trim can start at about Rs. 18 lakh considering all the additional hardware. Again, going above this mark means that it will be a hard sell. The Mahindra Born Electric SUVs have simply disrupted the market, and everyone else will have to play ball, or end up being bit players.

Maruti Suzuki is known to price its cars very keenly

If this trait continues with the eVitara, the electric SUV will have a fair share of buyers. Here are some reasons why the eVitara has a very good chance of succeeding if priced sensibly.

One. It’s a Maruti and Indians just trust this brand like no other.

Two. It’s got styling that’s safe, bordering on conservative. Again, the typical Indian buyer likes this rather than something as outlandish like the BE 6.

Three. The spec sheet suggests that it will offer more than adequate performance and range.

Four. Maruti’s really laying it thick and fast with charging points. They plan to have no less than 25,000 charging points across the length and breadth of India.

Five. It has spacious interiors, and multiple trims that make for a wide range of price points to suit a lot of budgets.

Now, what if Maruti sticks to the 20-25 lakh price tag for the eVitara?

Well, in that case, monthly volumes of about 1,000 units is possibly the best they can do. Remember, the eVitara will be badged as Toyota’s most affordable electric car for the rest of the world, and will be built at Suzuki’s Gujarat factory. So, global volumes could be factor that Maruti is banking on if the rumoured 20-25 lakh price tag for the eVitara comes true.

If Maruti manages to export more eVitaras (with the Toyota badge) than it sells in India, lower sales wouldn’t have any impact on the automaker as export volumes will more than compensate. On the flipside though, this could give other automakers such as Mahindra and MG an edge over Maruti.

Meanwhile, Mahindra is projecting about 4,000 monthly units for the BE 6, and about 3,000 units for the XEV 9e. Aggressive? Yes, but the price is just as aggressive too! In one fell swoop, Mahindra plans to double the size of the electric car market in India, which currently stands at about 7,000-8,000 monthly units on an average.

Will India’s largest car maker Maruti Suzuki respond in kind, or will it simply choose to play conservative in a fast-evolving electric car market? We’ll know very soon.