With India's market for electric vehicles (EVs) picking up steam, global auto majors are getting ready with a clutch of launches here. India has had eight luxury electric vehicles hitting the road from Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Jaguar Land Rover recently. Another dozen models are also getting ready from various companies.
Considering the sheer size of the Indian market, some of these companies are also interested in getting their own production base in India. Audi is one among them. As per media reports, the German car-maker has started a study to check the feasibility of local assembly of EVs.
Audi's rival Mercedes-Benz has announced that it would locally assemble its EQS electric sedan in India and would be launched in the market in the fourth quarter of 2022. It would add to the all-electric SUV EQC, which was launched as a fully imported unit in October 2020.
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Audi's game plan for India
Audi, which has launched five EVs in India in the last seven months, wants to make the most of the incentives that the various State governments are offering. The tax sops would allow it to sell some of the electric vehicles at prices on a par with their fossil fuel-powered variants.
Audi India Head Balbir Singh Dhillon has been quoted by the news agency PTI as saying: "It's a continuous evaluation at this point in time. We are evaluating the acceptability of electric mobility in India."
As Audi has already decided that by 2033 it will become an all-electric car company, Balbir Singh said: "So, it's a matter of time. It's a question of when, not if that whether we will do it."
Audi is currently evaluating the threshold volume before it can take a call on starting making EVs locally.
Currently, Audi has five electric cars in India. They are: e-tron 50, e-tron 55, e-tron Sportback 55, e-tron GT, RS e-tron GT. "These have played a key role, along with its petrol powered Q-range and with A-sedans in the company recording a two-fold jump in retail sales at 3,293 units in India in 2021 as compared to 1,639 units in 2020," the PTI report said.
It makes sense to assemble EVs here than import
Swedish car-maker Volvo is also weighing in the possibility of having its own assembly unit in India. It has announced plans to go full electric by 2030 globally, so it is as keen as Audi.
German auto major BMW, on the other hand, is seeking a duty cut on fully built imported vehicles. But it may be recalled that Tesla, too was looking for such a tax cut, but the Indian government did not seem favourably inclined towards the idea. The government is clear that it would rather have these companies plan their own assembly line here rather than take the import route.
Market analysts also say a locally assembled EV enjoys 26-70% benefits on cost compared with an imported CBU (completely built units) of the same model.
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