ROAD TO REVOLUTION

The future’s electric. And Indian auto makers are launching newer models and building an ecosystem as the government offers favourable policies and financial incentives

- MANU BALACHANDRAN

The Indian automobile sector has endured some challenging years. Floundering sales on the back of an economic slowdown coupled with a transition to the more efficient BS-VI engines with lower emission hit automakers hard. Over the past year, sales of vehicles across categories fell by nearly 16 percent in the world’s fourth-largest automobile industry. Now, with the Covid-19 pandemic causing the global economy to go into a tailspin, the sector could take over a year to recover.

Amid the despondency, however, there appears to be a silver lining for the industry. Since January 2019, India’s top car manufacturers have been making a beeline to launch electric vehicles (EV). Last July, Hyundai, India’s second-largest car maker, launched the Kona—its first electric offering in India—with a range of 425 km. In October 2019, Tata Motors announced the launch of its first EV, the Tigor, followed by the electric version of its popular SUV, Nexon. In January, Mumbai-headquartered Mahindra followed suit with its electric SUV, e-KUV, which has a range between 130 km and 150 km.

At the Auto Expo in New Delhi earlier this year, much of the attention was on EVs with Maruti Suzuki’s Futuro-e, Tata Motors’ Altroz EV and the Ora R1 from China’s Great Wall Motors. Pune-headquartered domestic manufacturer Force Motors also announced its next-generation mobility platform featuring an electric powertrain while MG Motor India launched its electric SUV, its only second vehicle offering in India.