Tata Motors’ passenger vehicle (PV) sales may have seen a decline for two straight months in August (-3%) and September (-5%) but its electric vehicle (EV) sales are on a roll. In the first six months of FY2024, the company has sold 37,961 units, which constitutes strong 77% year-on-year growth (April-September 2022: 21,487 units). For the first nine months of CY2023, Tata Motors’ total EV sales are 53,921 units, up 76 percent YoY (January-September 2022: 38,055 units).
Halfway into the current fiscal year, Tata Motors’ EV sales at 37,961 units are already 79% of its FY2023’s 47,792 units, its best 12-month sales yet (see sales data table below). Given this rapid pace of sales, it can be surmised that Tata Motors will add another 45,000-50,000 EVs in the remaining six months of FY2024 to hit the 85,000-unit mark.
At 37,961 units in April-September 2023, Tata Motors has achieved 79% of its entire FY2023 EV sales of 47,792 units in the first six months of FY2024.
EV SHARE OF PV SALES INCREASES TO OVER 13 PERCENT
The sustained and rapid growth in EV sales is reflected in the increased level of EV penetration in overall PV sales. From 1.88% in FY2021, the EV share of Tata Motors’ PV sales rose to 5.12% in FY2022, to 8.77% in FY2023 and is currently 13.58% in H1 FY2024.
What helped Tata Motors make speedy gains was expanding the addressable market with three body styles – sedan, SUV and hatchback – which cater to both the premium and mass market customer segments.
At present, its seven-model PV portfolio which comprises the Altroz and Tiago hatchbacks, Tigor sedan, and the Nexon, Punch, Harrier and Safari SUVs has all-electric variants for three models – the Nexon, Tigor (and Xpres-T EV for fleet buyers) and the Tiago.
This eco-friendly stable of zero-emission cars and SUVs has helped the company reach out towards its target audience – both personal EV buyers and EV fleet buyers. While the Nexon EV continues to be the model with the maximum demand and the January 2023 launch of the Tiago EV, the most affordable electric car in India, the company continues to benefit from demand from fleet operators, who achieve substantial gains from wallet-friendly EVs as compared to petrol, diesel or even CNG-powered cars. The bulk of the sales for the Tigor EV are for the X-Pres T fleet-only EV.
Tata Motors, which is the market-leading electric passenger vehicle OEM thanks to it being the first to mainstream e-PVs for the mass market, aims to have EVs comprise 50% of its portfolio by 2030.
GETTING FUTURE-READY . . .
While the refreshed Nexon.ev was launched on September 14, Tata Motors is set to up the ante with the launch of the Punch EV later this year. While the sub-compact electric SUV has been spied testing previously, new spy photos reveal that the zero-emission Tata Punch EV has a charging slot on the front bumper.
The Punch EV, which will feature Tata’s Ziptron powertrain, is likely to be the first Tata EV to come with a charging socket mounted on the front bumper.
The Punch EV, which will be targeted at the Citroen eC3 in India, will be positioned below the recently launched Nexon EV MR (the lower-spec variant) but above the Tiago EV.
The carmaker had revealed its future EV model strategy at the Auto Expo 2023 in New Delhi in January. Along with the Harrier EV and Sierra EV concepts, the car and SUV maker revealed its three-phased model strategy across the Gen 2 and Gen 3 architecture. These took the form of the Curvv concept, a Gen 2 EV based on a multi-energy platform, and Avinya, a Gen 3 EV developed on an optimised, dedicated EV platform.
The company is on track to deliver 10 EVs by 2026. As is known, Tata Motors has committed an investment of US$ 2 billion (approximately Rs 16,500 crore) in its EV business starting in 2022 over a five-year period.
That’s not all. To ensure it is future-proofed on the manufacturing capacity front, Tata Motors’ recent acquisition of Ford India’s plant in Sanand, Gujarat, will help unlock additional capacity of 300,000 units per annum, expandable to 420,000 units per annum.
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