Tata Motors Eyes Huge Growth in EV market & EV Share in its Overall Sales by 2023

Tata Motors expects new EV launches to drive volume growth as it plans to fill gaps in the mass EV market and enter new markets.

Tata Motors has been on a roll with its new electric vehicles. In August 2022, the company sold 47,166 passenger vehicles, 3,845 of which were electric vehicles (EVs), accounting for 8.15 percent of Tata Motors' total sales volume. It saw a 276 percent year-on-year (YoY) increase in EV sales last month, with 1,022 units sold in the same month last year. So yes! The company's EV business has been on a growth trajectory, and the CEO now expects the EV share of overall sales to hit double digits next year, rising to 25% in the next 5 - 6 years.

"It (EV Share in sales) should cross the double-digit mark is what I would say, it should be above 10 per cent, somewhere in between 10 - 12 per cent. In 5 - 6 years it should be at 25 per cent level", said Shailesh Chandra, Managing Director, Tata Motors' PVs and Passenger Electric Mobility Business on the sidelines of the 62nd SIAM convention.

The Tata Nexon EV was a runaway success, turning the tide for the Indian brand in the EV space. It set the tone for streamlining electric vehicles (EVs) in the passenger vehicle space, and the range was later expanded with the introduction of the Nexon EV Max, which provided improved drive range and performance. Chandra stated that the company was surprised by the response to the model and that sales were split evenly between the standard Nexon Prime and the Nexon EV.

The Tata Nexon EV is the best-selling EV in our market, and the company sold 13,280 units in the first half of 2022 (H1 2022), up 314.4 percent from 3,204 units sold in the same period last year. Chandra added that the Nexon EV Max has aided sales in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, and Bihar, among others, where charging infrastructure is still in its infancy and buyers prefer higher-range models. In 2021, the Tata Tigor EV made its debut in the personal electric mobility space, receiving a major overhaul and becoming India's most affordable electric four-wheeler offering. Its sales have also increased, with 5,532 units sold in the first half of 2022, a 2391.8 percent increase over the same period the previous year.

One of the key reasons for Tata's success with its EVs is a lack of proper competition, and the company, of course, took advantage of the first-mover advantage. While there are many EVs in the premium car segment, there are only a few in the mass-market EV segment. Having said that, with new models such as the Mahindra XUV400 EV, Mahindra's Born Electric EV range, and other players planning new EV launches within the next five years, the EV market is set to grow, pushing volumes.

There is no denying that Tata Motors will face increased competition when the XUV400 EV hits the road in January 2023, and this will only increase in the future. However, the company's confidence in achieving a double-digit EV share in its volumes soon and increasing it to 25% in the long run stems from new launches in the pipeline. It has already announced the Tata Tiago EV, which will go on sale on September 28 and will compete in the entry-level EV market.

The Tata Avinya and Curvv concepts were also introduced earlier this year, and they look nothing short of a design marvel, one of Tata cars' strongest selling points, and will be positioned at the higher end of the mass-market EV segment. The company is banking on new product launches to meet its growth targets. It anticipates higher volumes as it plans to fill white spaces in the mass EV market by entering new markets with upcoming EV launches.