Mahindra Reva, the electric car manufacturer from the stable of the $15.4 billion (around Rs. 85,431.5 crore) diversified conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), targets to sell 30,000 battery-run cars a year by 2015-16. The firm will start with rolling out 6,000 cars a year from its newly commissioned plant near Bangalore. With exports contributing a major share, Mahindra Reva expects to achieve full capacity realisation of 30,000 cars annually in the next three years.
“We see great opportunity in electric vehicles. Future mobility has to be clean, convenient and cost-effective,” said Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of M&M.
Mahindra Reva’s first four-seater electric car code-named NXR is ready for launch during the upcoming festival season. The company spent R100 crore in developing the new car and putting up a new plant which is platinum-rated by Indian Green Building Council.
Reva, which came into Mahindra fold two years back, sold around 4,000 two-seater battery-run cars in 10 years, out of which a majority of them were sold in 24 overseas destinations.
In India, the sales have been around 1,000 cars so far as the huge cost of batteries made electric cars prohibitively expensive — R5 lakh upwards for two-seater city drive versions. The non-availability of charging stations too dampened customer interest.
Anand Mahindra said the company will push for government incentives for eco-friendly electric vehicles. Delhi state government already offers 15 per cent subsidy and VAT refund for electric cars. States such as Gujarat and Karnataka offer lower road tax for electric vehicles.
Mahindra Reva bets on the growing popularity of electric vehicles in developed markets such as UK, Australia and Norway. “UK is our biggest market we sold 1,000 cars in London,” said Chetan Maini, chief technology officer, Mahindra Reva.
“Electric vehicle penetration will grow faster in 8-10 years. Some reports say it will be 10 per cent of global auto sales by 2020,” said Pravin Shah, CEO, M&M.
