Despite XUV 4OO’s low volumes, our Born Electric models are a priority: Rajesh Jejurikar, ED & CEO, M&M Auto

XUV 4OO is sold at a starting price of Rs 15.49 lakh (ex-showroom)

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which had earlier announced that it will invest Rs 12,000 crore in the electric vehicle (EV) business over the next two-three years, is looking to aggressively expand its lineup of battery-driven models. Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director and CEO, Auto Division, M&M told reporters that although XUV400 has not generated sizeable volumes, the company remains confident about expanding its EV market share with the upcoming Born Electric range of models.

“We're not doing great on XUV 4OO volumes. We are not pushing it to clock more numbers. Our priority is to do more of the  Born Electric SUVs,” said Jejurikar, while talking to reporters during the Q2 FY25 earnings conference.

XUV 4OO, which is the electric variant of XUV 3OO (reintroduced as XUV 3XO in March this year) is sold at a starting price of Rs 15.49 lakh (ex-showroom). At present, this is pitted against the Nexon EV, the electric variant of the Nexon.

Stating that the company had sold only 1,800 XUV 4OOs, he said “There is a segment of people who value this product for its space and some other areas of strength, but the product is not a priority. We're not putting marketing money behind it, and we will let it continue at the pace at which it's moving.”

The homegrown automaker is now looking to up its zero-emission game beginning with the unveiling of two new electric SUVs — the XEV 9e and BE 6e — on November 26, 2024. Jejurikar reaffirmed that e-SUVs will account for 27 percent of M&M's total passenger vehicle sales in the next three years.

On EV rollouts by competitors, Jejurikar maintained, “We'll be happy if the market gets competitive because good products will not just grow the EV category, but also help increase the penetration. Further, government subsidies going down in the fleet (segment) doesn't impact us. We are catering to people who want really good lifestyle, high-tech experiences, and that's what we'll deliver.”

Despite seeing a downtrend in the electric passenger retail segment, Jejurikar remained optimistic about the overall EV market.

“As the product offering improves, more customers will come. Also, EV penetration in India is 2 percent while in the West it's already at 15 percent, and seeing some stagnation. So, we have a very long way to go. We believe that the right products will create a huge opportunity,” explained Jejurikar.

Apart from building a 54,000-unit ICEV capacity, Mahindra will build an additional 10,000 units per annum capacity for BEVs at its Chakan facility. Jejurikar said that the company had already constructed a body shop and an assembly line at its Chakan plant. “The additional capacity is exclusive for BEVs, by and large. Of course, there could be some fungibility over time, but it  does not impact the current SUV capacity,” he added

Asked about its rumoured association with Skoda Auto VW India, Jejurikar said, “We continue to look at various opportunities across our businesses, and only when we feel that the opportunity really makes sense for us will we have any conversations about it.”

Jejurikar clarified that while there's no change in the capex outlined for BEVs, it has no  immediate plans to go for electrification of its heavy-duty truck business.

Meanwhile, M&M is looking to ramp up the production of its recently-launched Thar Roxx. “We did see some slowdown in the three-door (Thar) right after we launched the Roxx. But that changed very quickly, and we have actually sold  every three door Thar we had. Our Thar Roxx has seen very good momentum from the middle of September.”

He shared that there is some  fungibility between the three and the five door variants of the Thar, which is having a total output of 9,500 t0 10,000 units per month.

``In phase one, we're going to improve the fungibility to be able to manufacture more Thar Roxxs. That we will do by January. In phase two, we will increase the number (9,500 units) by a couple of thousand, and then look beyond that. We still don't have a concrete plan in place at this point of time. Once these tweaks are in place, the waiting period for Thar Roxx, currently between nine to 15 months depending on the model, should come down," Jejurikar said.

Mahindra’s automotive segment clocked a record quarterly volume of 2,31,000 units with consolidated revenue from this segment rising 15 percent on-year to Rs 21,755 crore during Q2 FY25. The segment's consolidated profit after tax (PAT) increased 40 percent, reaching Rs 1,423 crore.