Mahindra plans to export EVs to UK with trade agreement in place

Economic Times

3 days ago

Mahindra & Mahindra plans to export its electric vehicles to the UK, leveraging improved trade opportunities following the finalisation of the India-UK free trade agreement, according to Group CEO and Managing Director Anish Shah.
The Mumbai-based auto major is a leading player in the electric vehicle segment in the domestic market and expects EVs to comprise 30 per cent of its overall sales by 2030. In 2022, the company inaugurated Mahindra Advanced Design Europe (M.A.D.E) at Banbury, Oxfordshire, the UK.
The facility serves as the conceptual hotbed for the company's portfolio of electric products. In an interaction with PTI Videos, Shah noted that India has the potential to emerge as the automobile manufacturing hub of the world. "We are looking forward to exporting our electric vehicles to the UK and to take a bigger share of the UK market and competing in the UK on the back of this FTA," Shah stated when asked to comment about the benefits for the Indian industry and the automaker due to the completion of the agreement.
Shah noted that the Indian government has done a fine job when it comes to the trade agreement with the UK. "It balances a large number of things. First, it helps open up our market in a way to goods coming in from the UK. Second, it helps us export a lot more across multiple industries," he stated. He noted that the FTA should be able to encourage innovation and manufacturing in the country. "If you take the automobile sector as a specific example, India has tremendous potential to be the auto manufacturing hub of the world...today, we are much smaller, but with what we are doing now, and also the focus on ease of business, on production of logistics costs, on production of import duties in some areas, we have started to see much greater ability for us to produce very high quality cars in India," Shah said. He noted that when he says production hub, it is not only for the domestic firms but global automakers. "We want the best global automakers to be in India and produce in India. It will spur businesses. It will be better... more competition makes us better over time. So it's very important for us to be able to have a very thriving auto industry in India, consumers having the choice of the best cars in the world," Shah said. When asked if the entry of global EV players Tesla and Vinfast in the domestic market worries the Mumbai-based auto major, Shah stated: " We are actually excited about it. And it's something I say in all seriousness, because if you look back at the last 25 years, we had this question come up numerous times." When Ford and other automakers entered India, there were questions raised about whether Mahindra would survive, he said. Ten years later, same question was raised again, will Mahindra survive with the entry of Hyundai and Kia, Shah noted. "And we've not just survived. We've gotten better as we've had competition that came in, and today we are actually standing at a much stronger position," he said. The company has very strong R&D capabilities in India, Shah said. It can manufacture higher-quality vehicles at a lower cost than many of the global competitors, he added. "We think it's good for India to have a thriving auto ecosystem, and that's something that we feel is better for consumers and good for us," Shah noted. He said that the company's SUV market share has grown from 11 per cent to 27 per cent over time. In the last quarter alone, the automaker has seen growth of 5.7 percentage points in terms of the market share in the vertical, he added. "Now we have not set specific numbers for 2030 as to what a market share should be. Our focus is on developing the best products. Execute very well, and that will enable us to keep a leadership position," Shah said. The company will look at expanding its product range across domestic and international markets. "We will focus on certain markets, first get to a strong market share, then focus on the next set of markets. So we see a lot of opportunities for growth, and it starts with creating the best products," Shah said. He noted that as the automaker continues to enhance the quality of its products, playing a role in shaping customer preferences. "We chose to be in SUVs because we had strength in that area. We could build authentic SUVs very well, and we've taken that strength and augmented it by a number of things around more refined cars, much better technology in cars, and that's helped us get where we are," he said. "As we go forward. We feel that we may look at other actions, we may look at slightly smaller SUVs to start with," he added. On whether the company would also look at global acquisitions like Tata Motors, Shah noted that the company's focus is on doing things that are essential to build its businesses and be able to deliver results in that. "SML (stake acquisition) is a classic example. It's one that takes our truck business to a different level and puts it on a much better path for growth. And as we see opportunities to do that and to be able to deliver the returns for our investors, we will do it," he noted. On rare earth magnet shortage issues, Shah stated: "There are potential alternatives as well. So we are working through some of those."
"As I said, it's one of the geopolitical disruptions. We had semiconductors, and going through that has made us stronger, and that has allowed us to look at what are the potential alternatives here. And I believe the government is also doing a lot to look at alternatives for vehicles and permanent magnets as well. So we feel that we should be able to handle that and then move forward on this," he added.