Can Tata Motors Retain Its EV Crown?

Out of nowhere, Tata Motors powered up to the No.1 slot in India's EV race. Can it keep ahead while battling new EVs, and self-charging, highly fuel efficient Japanese hybrids?

- Rishi Kant

It is said that Babur - the founder of the Mughal dynasty- looked towards the Indian subcontinent when he failed to recapture his lost Samarkand kingdom for the third time, for it was much more prudent for him to helm a conquest in India rather than repeatedly trying for a lost cause. The rest, as they say, is history. Babur not only toppled the Delhi Sultanate but also laid the foundation of one of the most influential dynasties in Indian history.

This vignette of the life of a medieval ruler may seem to have little relevance today, but the fortunes of one of India's largest carmakers have gone through a similar topsy turvy phase, before spurting an enviable turnaround.

For decades, Tata Motors has been No. 1 in the domestic commercial vehicle market, despite competition from both local and foreign brands. The company’s aggressive foray into the electric passenger vehicle segment on the back of the Nexon and the Tigor led to an 85.4% market share in the segment in FY22. Its newly launched Tiago EV the electric iteration of its Tiago hatchback, which was launched at an introductory price of 8.49 lakh received more than 10,000 bookings in a single day.

“We have stopped tracking market share. Our focus is to ramp up production volumes,” says Shailesh Chandra, MD, passenger and electric vehicles, Tata Motors. While Chandra does not delve into projections, chairman N. Chandrasekaran told shareholders at the company’s 77th AGM in July that Tata Motors plans to sell halfa million cars in FY23, with EV sales crossing 1 lakh units. In FY21 we sold around 5,000 EVs; in FY22, it was around 19,500; this year we plan to sell 50,000, and double it to 1 lakh by next year,’ Chandrasekaran had said.