With the Harrier EV, Tata Motors Ltd. is throwing down a gauntlet of sorts to a pack of rivals that have eaten into its market share in the nascent yet fast-growing EV space in India.
“The market is getting fragmented with a lot more options coming in,” Shailesh Chandra, managing director of Tata Motors' PV and EV businesses, told NDTV Profit on the sidelines of a launch event for the Harrier EV in Mumbai on Tuesday.
India's electric-car market has cleaved into three segments:
City (Rs 6-12 lakh) with 250 km range: These cars are primarily for daily commutes to the office.
Midsize (Rs 12-20 lakh) with 400 km range: These cars are used for daily commutes and short weekend drives.
Premium (Rs 20 lakh+) with 500 km+ range: These cars do away with the range anxiety that comes with long highway drives.
Tata Motors has two products each in the first two segments; the Tiago EV and Punch EV in ‘City' and the Nexon EV and Curvv EV in ‘Midsize'. It is now entering the premium club with the Harrier EV, which will be soon followed by the Sierra EV.
“The plan is to have two products in each segment,” Chandra said.
In the short-term, Tata Motors is taking certain specific actions in all the three segments to increase the value proposition, so that they become a compelling buy. The idea is to hit the sweet spot of price range and features. That would help push up volumes.
“With that approach, in the short-term too, we should be able to grow not only our volumes but also market share,” Chandra said. “In the mid- to long-term, we would further renew the entire portfolio, which should help us come to a steady state of 50%.”
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