MG MOTOR TO HIKE INVESTMENT IN EVS IN INDIA FROM 2022
NEW DELHI: MG Motor India Pvt. Ltd plans to make additional investments in its electric vehicle business in two years when it hopes for normalcy to return to the Indian economy.
Rajeev Chaba, president, MG Motor India, said zero-emission vehicles will gain significant traction in the medium to long term, which will help the company get a head start.
In 2022, MG Motor plans to launch an affordable electric vehicle in the ₹12-15 lakh price range to qualify for subsidy under the government’s Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid and) Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme, besides introducing a new variant of the ZS electric sport-utility vehicle, which will have a 500-km range on a full charge.
The company also plans to source from local suppliers most of the parts for its electric vehicles, and also start assembling lithium-ion batteries and other critical parts in India.
“This is our mid-term to longterm plan. We want to double our bets on electric vehicles and want to be the leader (in the EV space). That’s why we will come with a battery with 500- km range to show our intent,” said Chaba. “Our next electric vehicle will be smaller and will be in between ₹ 12- 15 l akh with a range of ₹300 km. It will comply for the FAME scheme if it continues.”
Meanwhile, the company owned by China’s SAIC Motor Corp. will launch the ZS electric SUV in five new Tier I cities f rom June. I nitially, i t had f o c u s e d o n l y o n me t r o s . Launched in January this year, the ZS was the second product for MG in the Indian market after the Hector SUV.