Tata Motors, which commands a lion’s share of over 74 percent of the passenger EV segment in India, has inaugurated two EV-exclusive outlets in Gurugram today.
While one of the sprawling 3S facilities by Autovikas, a renowned Tata Motors dealer in Delhi-NCR, is located in Sector 14, Gurugram, next to the BMW Bird Automotive showroom, the second one is on the Sohna Road. The exclusive EV outlets aim to offer a comprehensive experience to potential EV customers who, according to the company, are discerning and demand a unique experience in their car buying journey.
At the 50,000 square-feet outlet in Sector 14, Gurugram, Tata Motors has adopted a modern design approach to style this multi-storey facility, which is replete with green spaces, hangout zones, and digital vehicle configurators, to cater to the needs of the young car buyer, who is a digital native, and is increasingly looking for seamless ways of identifying, shortlisting, and buying the right vehicle.
According to Shailesh Chandra, MD, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEM), “In the last five years, we have observed that the EV customers are extremely well informed and want to interact with like-minded people. That is what prompted us to create a new EV-specific umbrella – Tata.ev – to cater to such discerning customers by virtue of three key pillars of technology, community, and sustainability.”
The company said that it has realised a special focus on sustainability as a key pillar, and all materials used in the showroom, for instance in the walls, modular furniture, and restrooms, are recycled or recyclable. There is ample use of glass to allow for natural sunlight into the showroom, while there are in-door plants that offer clean air, while enhancing the showroom ambience. There are AC as well as DC fast chargers also installed in the showrooms.
The company envisions its Tata.ev EV-exclusive outlets to take over as the sole retail outlets for its EV line-up, which presently includes the Nexon, Tiago, and Tigor EV, over the next 2-3 months. “This is the kick-off of the transition to EV retail from exclusive stores once the dealers selling EVs from a shop-in-shop concept exhaust their stocks.
Tata Motors is set to launch three more EV models next year: the Punch EV, the Curvv EV and Harrier EV. The EV-exclusive showrooms will also serve as hubs for bringing evolved consumers together, and organise community events as well.
“Delhi-NCR is one amongst the Top 7 biggest micro-markets for EVs in the country, and given the high levels of pollution in the region, it triggered our thought to venture into Gurugram for our first set of exclusive showrooms for EVs. The Tata.ev stores will sell experiences rather than selling cars. It will be quite different to what people have traditionally seen in automotive retail,” said Chandra.
“We will target opening 2-3 stores each in all those cities where EV sales are showing a rapid penetration between 4 percent and 22 percent, in the next 12-18 months,” he added.
He also pointed out that Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, and some cities in Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat are the key markets showing a strong EV offtake, and Tata Motors is likely to open anywhere from 50-100 EV-exclusive stores in the next 12-18 months across key markets.
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