Maruti to look at electric vehicles for India

The Indian government has revealed plans to make India an only electric car market in the next decade. Keeping that in mind, Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car manufacturer has said that they will not hold back in this segment either.

Currently, Mahindra is the only brand selling electric vehicles out there, be it the E2O Plus or the e-Verito. Other companies do have hybrid offerings, but they are now deciding on the future of these models due to the change in the taxation policies.

RC Bhargava had the following to say:

Government has announced program to rapidly promote the use of electric vehicles in India. It is a very laudable policy as it will greatly enhance the usage and overtime lead to cleaner environment.

Your company will not hold back in the segment. As soon as we can determine the customer preference we will come up with such models. In the meantime, focus will be to increase fuel economy (in current models) and bring in new technologies.

The company currently is the largest auto manufacturer in the country, having a market share of close to 50%. The auto industry is expected to grow in double digits over the next 3-5 years and Maruti is hoping that they too can follow the same growth scale.

Currently, the infrastructure to support electric vehicles is still not present. Unlike in the global market where people with electric cars and hybrids can rebates and benefits, people in India do not get major advantages. That coupled with the fact that there aren’t enough charging stations present across most of the cities makes it tougher to use an electric vehicle. Like we mentioned above, the only electric vehicle on sale currently is from the Mahindra stable and they too are priced on the expensive side, which makes most people walk away from them. Unless there is a change in infrastructure and policy, selling electric vehicles in the country will be tough.

Source; Link