Chief Executive Officer of Mahindra & Mahindra, Anish Shah on Sunday said that the automobile company is planning to invest in a battery cell company which focuses on battery manufacturing for electronic vehicles.
According to him, such an investment deal would secure the EV battery demands of the company and market.
A few days ago, Mahindra & Mahindra raised nearly 250 million dollars from an international investment company based in Britain. The funds were raised for the electronic vehicle unit of the Indian automotive company. The company is also exploring a partnership deal with Volkswagen AG which would ensure the supply of vital components for electronic vehicles such as batteries, motors etc.
According to Mr Shah, even though a deal with Volkswagen AG would enable the company to meet short-term needs for batteries and such products, the company was aiming for a partnership with a global leader in EV battery cell production who could secure future supplies as well.
He added that M & M is not planning to enter into the field of manufacturing EV Batteries as there are already various companies in the market who do it very well.
The company is mainly looking for a partnership with market players which would turn out as a co-investment in some form. M&M also has no intention of owning or running the partnership venture, as they are only eyeing meeting future demands from any deal.
Shah also added that only certain components such as battery and motors are needed to be procured from other companies for the M&M EV business, as other parts are already being produced by the company itself for combustion-based vehicles.
Mahindra Group
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, which was founded on 2nd October 1945 in the city of Ludhiana, Punjab as a steel trading company, later started manufacturing and selling multi-utility vehicles under the licence of Willy’s Jeep.
With nearly eight subsidiaries and 9.7 billion dollars in revenue, M&M is the leading automotive manufacturing company in India.
The electronic Vehicle market in India is still in its nascent stage, with the leading EV carmaker in the country, Tata Motors, just representing 1% of the country’s annual sales.
Indian government is planning to increase this number to 30% by 2030. For that, the government is providing various incentives and subsidies to EV makers based in India. Companies that are in the automobile business are now trying to take advantage of these incentives and programs by developing and launching new Electronic Vehicles.
Mahindra & Mahindra are planning to launch at least five electric SUVs by 2027 under EV Co., which is an EV subsidiary of the group.
Recent supply chain issues in international markets coupled with the shortage of semiconductors have slowed down the development and manufacturing of electric vehicles in the country.
