Mahindra Eyes Selling 7k EV Units Per Month By Fiscal End

 Mahindra & Mahindra plans to sell around 7,000 electric vehicle units by the end of this fiscal, a top executive said on Thursday.

The Mumbai-based auto maker currently sells between 4,000-5,000 electric vehicles per month.

The company, which on Thursday expanded its electric vehicle portfolio with the launch of a seven seater model XEV 9S, aims the electric range to account for around 25% of its overall volumes by 2027-2028 calendar years.

"We are moving to an operating production capacity of electric vehicles to 8,000 units per month by fiscal end, out of which we hope to sell 7,000 units a month," Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Executive Director and CEO for auto and farm sectors Rajesh Jejurikar told reporters here.

The company currently rolls out its born electric vehicles from its Chakan-based manufacturing plant.

Mahindra has already sold over 30,000 EVs (BE 6 and XEV 9) over the last seven months, raking in a revenue of around ₹8,000 crore.

Jejurikar noted that the company is working towards establishing charging infrastructure for EVs with plans to have around 1,000 charging points by 2027 with focus on high traffic areas.

On a query on exports, he said that the company is looking to do that in a calibrated manner.

"We have an overall path to exports for the electric SUV portfolio but we will do it in a calibrated manner. We have said right hand markets first and then depending on the response we will look at the left hand markets," he added "Its not something we will rush into," Jejurikar said.

He stated that the company is also looking at some solutions for end of life batteries.

"It is something we are very seriously looking at. We have an electric three company which has been in existence for much longer and those cells and batteries are going to come in actually earlier than what is going to happen with the SUVs. So we clearly are working around what are the solutions that we need for battery recycling," Jejurikar said.

There is a team the automaker has put in which is working on it, he added.

He noted that the company is de-risking its electric vehicle business from supply chain issues by putting in place multiple mitigation actions.

Jejurikar said that all trims of XEV 9 are eligible for the government's production linked incentive scheme.

"There is very comprehensive process the government has put in place to validate the local value addition. This means any company which is applying for a PLI has to demonstrate local value addition not only at the first point of supply, but all the tiers of supply," he added.

The company is now in the process of applying for a PLI for BE 6.

"So BE6 will go into application in the coming quarter and then hopefully we'll get our BE6 certificate at the start of the next financial year. When 9s production starts, then we will apply for that as well," Jejurikar said.

The XEV 9S is priced from entry level trim at ₹19.95 lakh to top end variant tagged at ₹29.45 lakh (ex-showroom price) .

"The XEV 9S built on the INGLO electric origin platform does exactly that by creating space, more than anyone else and gives a smooth and noise free ride," Mahindra & Mahindra President - Automotive Business R Velusamy stated.

This SUV signals the start of a big new electric era for Mahindra - one built on scale, on purpose, and on a deep understanding of how India moves, said Nalinikanth Gollagunta, Chief Executive Officer - Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra.