'We're not Chasing the No 2 Spot'

Nalinikanth Gollagunta, Mahindra Auto CEO, explains why he doesn't go after volume market share

- HIMANI KOTHARI

AFTER THE LATEST overhaul of Goods and Services Tax (GST) slabs, many buyers are choosing better cars, not necessarily cheaper ones, feels Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra's automotive division.

Big cars—they form 60 percent of Mahindra's product portfolio—are now taxed at 40 percent, down from 48 percent earlier, while smaller cars face an 18 percent levy compared to 28 percent previously. The SUV maker says it has seen strong demand for higher trims and upper variants.

Mahindra, which launched its first born-electric SUVs in November 2024, says more than 65 percent of its electric vehicle (EV) buyers use them as their primary vehicles rather than for occasional trips, an early sign of growing consumer confidence in electric mobility.

In an interview with Forbes India, Gollagunta, who is also executive director of Mahindra Electric Automobile, talks about the carmaker's EV plans and what kind of models will make it to the UK market, if it goes there.

Q After the GST changes, where is demand coming from? Affordable cars or premium models?

It’s still early. The last three months have thrown a lot of mixed signals. We had three things coming together: The GST changes, the festive season and a trailer shortage across the industry. So, retail numbers were driven by what dealers could deliver, not just by demand.

That said, there is a clear underlying trend: Customers are not stepping down, they’re stepping up. If a buyer has a fixed budget, the question is whether they downgrade the car they wanted or hold the budget and buy a higher variant. We are seeing much more of the latter.