Tata Motors Actively Looking At Taking Its Electric Cars Global, Says MD Shailesh Chandra

“We have the ability to take these products global,” Shailesh Chandra, the managing director of Tata Motors’ EV and PV businesses, told NDTV Profit during an interaction in Mumbai on Wednesday.

“It is about where we would like to focus first—there is a big growth opportunity in India but a bigger opportunity globally because most of the electric vehicles in developed countries are priced above $30,000. What we [Tata Motors] have right now is world-class products, all less than $30,000.”

“We are investing big time in technology, so I clearly see an opportunity.”

Chandra’s comments come against the backdrop of a pushback against Chinese electric cars globally. Last week, the European Union said it plans to increase tariffs on Chinese EVs, taking those levies to as high as 48% on some vehicles. In May, the US announced a plan to nearly quadruple tariffs on Chinese EVs, up to a final rate of 102.5%. Canada, too, is preparing to go down a similar path.

That opens up key geographies for Tata Motors to play in, since the Nexon EV maker enjoys similar economies of scale as some of its Chinese rivals. It’s worth mentioning here that Tata Motors’ closest rival in India, Hyundai Motor India Pvt., has lined up an IPO that industry watchers believe is aimed at making India an EV manufacturing hub for the Korean carmaker.

Chandra, however, didn’t make much of it.

“I wouldn’t depend too much or even consider the current trade barriers as a key part of our strategy. We should never bank on them because they can always change,” he said.

Tata Motors is India’s largest EV maker in terms of volume, accounting for nearly 75% of the nearly one lakh electric cars sold last year, according to VAHAN data. The firm has four electric cars in its portfolio, including SUVs (Nexon.ev, Punch.ev), sedans (Tigor.ev) and hatchbacks (Tiago.ev). The priciest among them retails at less than Rs 20 lakh, or $25,000.

In fact, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Pvt. Ltd. is now a billion-dollar enterprise that turned Ebitda positive in fiscal 2024.

The EV unit clocked a revenue of Rs 9,300 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2024, according to its annual report released recently. In volume terms, wholesales—dispatches to dealerships from the factory floor—rose 47.5% year-on-year to 73,844 units in FY24.

“With cumulative 1,50,000 EV production, a milestone achieved by few car manufacturers globally, we sold three out of four electric cars in India last year,” Chandra said in a letter to shareholders in the annual report.

The time, then, is ripe for Tata Motors to take the EV plunge globally.

“Structurally, I feel that we have an opportunity [to go global], and we are actively looking into the opportunity,” Chandra told NDTV Profit. “When we would’ve frozen our international strategy—hopefully, in a few months—and received board approval, then I will be able to more openly express.”