M&M bets big on electric 2-wheelers

New Delhi: Sensing that the real spurt in growth in the electric vehicle segment in India is going to come from two-wheelers, utility major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) plans to focus more on developing and producing electric two-wheelers from its Nashik plant in Maharashtra. The company is looking at cutting down production of three-wheelers.

Following M&M’s takeover of Bangalore-based electric car company Reva Electric, the firm is likely to source technology from Reva to power its two-wheelers, according to industry sources. When contacted, Anoop Mathur, president of M&M's two-wheeler division, declined to comment “on market speculations.”

Industry sources said that M&M is committed to positioning itself as an important electric vehicle manufacturer; and following the takeover of Reva, it has both expertise and the knowhow in developing electric platforms for its various products.

M&M forayed into the two-wheeler segment in July 2008 after the company bought an 80% stake in the loss making two-wheeler company, Kinetic Motor Company. Anand Mahindra, vice-chairman and managing director of the Mahindra Group, had said, “There is strong evidence that two-wheelers are going to enjoy a renaissance.”

Currently, the approximate size of the electric-two wheeler market in China is 14 million, while in India, it is only around 0.1 million. “The electric two-wheeler market in India is bound to grow rapidly...it is in this segment that you are going to see a lot of traction in coming few years,” a Delhi- based auto analyst said.

Abdul Majeed, head of auto practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said electric-two wheelers could outgrow the electric four-wheelers. “In my assessment, electric two-wheelers should see a double-digit growth in coming years,” he said.