Auto giants are setting their sights on a new growth market for EVs
With a large population, military, and economy, many see India as a country whose influence will grow significantly as the twenty-first century progresses.
However, when it comes to electric vehicles, the country is playing catch-up.
That’s because, while China, Europe, and the United States have become hubs for the purchase of electric vehicles — according to the International Energy Agency, China now accounts for more than half of all-electric vehicles on the road — India currently lags far behind.
However, according to the IEA’s Global EV Outlook for 2023, battery electric vehicle sales in India will reach nearly 50,000 in 2022, four times more than the previous year but still a drop in the bucket compared to the 4.4 million sold in China.
Along with the increase in sales, the IEA reported that India was “ramping up” EV and component manufacturing.
This was supported by a $3.2 billion incentive programme from the Indian government, which resulted in a $8.3 billion investment.
With all of this in mind, executives from some of the world’s largest automakers are making the case for establishing a presence in India.
These include the CEO of Stellantis’ Citroen Brand, who believes that, while still in its early stages of development, India’s electric vehicle sector could be “absolutely perfect” due to the way people there use cars.
Thierry Koskas admitted that the Indian market was “just getting started.”
“But we have great hope for this market because a lot of car usage in India is urban or suburban, and that can be absolutely perfect for electric vehicles,” he added.
Citroen India, which will launch the fully electric -C3 in February 2023, is not alone in making a move in India’s nascent electric vehicle sector.
Volvo Cars, with its fully electric XC40 Recharge, and Audi, with its e-tron, are both doing the same.
Speaking to Autocar India in 2021, Audi India’s CEO expressed confidence that the country’s EV sector would grow from strength to strength.
“I think four-wheeler industry is one [area], but you also will have two-wheeler industry, even buses on the electric side that will come, and also three-wheelers,” Balbir Singh Dhillon said.
“So I think the whole ecosystem is going to develop at a much faster pace than we can imagine,” he added.
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Content Credit: CNBC
