Tata Motors Says EV Lead Will Hold Even as Rivals Close In

Amid growing competition in the Indian electric vehicle market, Vivek Srivatsa, Chief Commercial Officer at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility, said on Tuesday that the company is confident it will retain its leadership in the EV space even as rivals continue to narrow the gap.

Speaking to Outlook Business at the launch of the mid-size SUV Sierra, Srivatsa said the company is seeing an uptick in its market share in EVs in the last three months on the back of strong demand for the Harrier.ev and the Nexon long-range (45kWh) EV.

“We have a waiting period of three to four months and volumes are ramping up… We can’t make enough. Whatever we make gets sold out. And a lot of new products are on the anvil. So in EV we will continue to have a very strong leadership,” Srivatsa said.

He added that competition in EVs has been there for a couple of years, but the company has managed to maintain its leadership.

“In EVs competition is welcome because for the longest time we were the only ones talking EV. Today everybody has EVs. People can now see parity among products,” he added.

Tata remains the largest EV maker in India with a 35% share in the first half of 2025, according to JATO Dynamics. As per the auto analyst firm, this is about 15 percentage points lower than last year and reflects faster growth from MG Motor at 30% and Mahindra at 23.8%, rather than a slide in Tata’s own volumes. Hyundai and BYD follow at 6.4% and 3.5%.

The company on Tuesday launched the Sierra, which will compete with the likes of Hyundai Creta, Maruti Suzuki Victora, Kia Seltos, Maruti Suzuki Grand Vitara and Honda Elevate, at an introductory price starting at Rs 11.49 lakh.

The Sierra, first introduced in 1991, was discontinued about 25 years ago and has been launched in a new avatar as the company eyes growth in SUV volumes. The Sierra has been introduced in three powertrains – two petrol and one diesel engine. Sierra EVs will be launched in the next financial year.

According to Srivatsa, a lot of mid-size SUV consumers are not upgrading to high SUVs because of the size. While the mid SUV market is currently about 45,000 units a month, the high SUV segment is about 15,000 to 20,000 units.

Tata expects the Sierra to attract these buyers looking for premium features without added bulk. “We decided we want to premiumise without increasing the size of the car, because in many ways there is a sweet spot of sizing.”

With the new addition, Tata is hoping to boost its market share in the SUV segment to 20–25% from the current 16–17%.

Srivatsa added that EVs in India have crossed a key threshold of 5% penetration in the overall passenger vehicle market. “Five percent is an inflection point. Beyond that, it takes off… In the next two to three years I won’t be surprised if we rapidly move to 10% penetration.”

Buyers, he added, now look at EVs the way they look at any other fuel choice. “Our learning is that EV is increasingly seen as a powertrain choice. People say I like Nexon, let me see whether I want petrol, diesel, or EV. Earlier we thought it would be the other way. Someone wants an EV and then chooses the product.”