EV charging is much easier to solve in smaller cities than in metros: M&M’s Automotive Division CEO

Electric vehicle charging at homes is a much easier problem to solve in smaller cities than in larger cities, according to Nalinikanth Gollagunta, CEO of Automotive Division at Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M).

“Tier-2 markets have been a huge revelation for us. Cities like Bhubaneswar, Indore and Jaipur have seen good traction,” Gollagunta told reporters on the sidelines of the 65th SIAM Convention.

The M&M Auto Division CEO said he is “not too worried” about growing competition in the EV space.

“EV penetration has just crossed the 5% mark. We are in category creation mode in EVs. When Tesla came in, we were quite happy because it excites the market. Somebody could go look at a Tesla and then they actually buy something else. Global players launching in India lends credibility to the market,” said Gollagunta.

“From a portfolio perspective, what we have put out till July was onlythe top variant of the BE6 and the XEV 9e. With that, we were able to be number 1 in revenue market share. We are now bringing ‘Pack 2’ (mid variant) into the market and we are starting to go into the Tier-2 markets,” Gollagunta explained.

“The excitement we created initially gave us an opportunity to tap the top end of the market for a few months. Now, we have Pack 2 coming in and very soon we will have Pack 1 coming in,” he added.

M&M had initially operationalised a monthly capacity of 5,000 EVs initially. “We were initially doing 3,500 monthly. For the last two months, we have done around 4,000 units,” he said.

When asked if the Goods and Services Tax (GST) cut on internal-combustion engine vehicles is expected to hit demand for electric vehicles, Gollagunta said, M&M has never positioned EVs as a TCO (total cost of ownership) story.

On M&M’s EV export plans, Gollagunta said, “When we built the BEV portfolio, the core focus was not just India. We wanted to take it globally. South Africa and Australia are our core export markets. We will probably take these there at some point in time. The UK is definitely a core market for us on the horizon. 18 to 24 months is what we have in mind to go to the UK with BEVs,” he said.

M&M is well on track to meet mid- to high-teens growth in FY26, said Gollagunta. “With the GST benefit, we are hoping we will continue on the same trajectory,” he said.