Tigor Electric compact sedan to be profitable, says Tata Motors CEO

Tata Motors’ CEO Guenter Butschek is confident of turning a profit on the Tigor Electric compact sedan. Tata Motors has won the bid to supply at least 6,500 units of the Tigor Electric to the Indian government-owned EESL (Energy Efficiency Services Limited). The first 350 cars will be delivered this month, and the rest will be delivered over the course of next year. The Tigor Electric compact sedan is the first electric vehicle that Tata Motors is building and selling in India.

Meanwhile, this is what Mr. Butschek said,

We will be making enough money from each of the units that we will be selling to EESL. As of now, we will be selling 6,500-7,000 units and if the other company (Mahindra) opts out we will lap up the rest of the order as well. All I can tell you now is that we are capable of meeting all the order requirements.

On the other hand, Mahindra CEO Dr. Pawan Goenka, said that his company would lose money on the 150 Verito electric sedans that it will supply to the Indian government. In the past, Dr. Goenka has also expressed surprise at how Tata managed to price the Tigor Electric so low and win the bid. Mahindra (through its acquisition of Reva Electric) has been in the electric car business for over a decade now.

Tata Motors is yet to announced the launch of the Tigor Electric for the Indian market, and the cars that it will supply to the government will not be offered in the open market. For the government order, Tata will supply the Tigor Electric with a battery range of 130 kilometers. The battery charge time will be 6 hours while the quick charge facility will take just 90 minutes. Top speed will be over 100 Kph, and the Tigor will be able to seat 5 adults. For the government, Tata has priced the Tigor Electric at Rs. 11.2 lakhs. This includes a 5 year maintenance contract.

Via ETAuto