Having failed to sell many electric cars in its native India, Mahindra & Mahindra is taking its e20 EV to other markets where the infrastructure is much more encouraging for electric mobility, including Bhutan.
The company, which sold less than 500 cars in India last year, has launched its e2O car in Bhutan and is also looking at other neighbouring nations including Sri Lanka and Nepal, as well as Europe, to drive growth, the Economic Times of India reported.
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“We have started selling in Nepal four months ago, we will be selling in Sri Lanka starting next month, we have started selling here (Bhutan)… neighbouring countries are getting covered, it is fairly easy thing for us to do that,” M&M executive director and president (automotive and FES) Pawan Goenka told ETI.
Towards the end of the year the company expects to launch in western markets, he added.
“In Europe we have identified three-four countries which will be the first markets for us to launch towards the end of the year” Goenka said.
Bhutan has for the last two years banned imports of conventional vehicles and recently decided to allow imports only of electric vehicles.
Nissan has already launched its Leaf there.
M&M also plans to launch its electric Verito sedan and Maxximo multi purpose vehicle in Bhutan by the end of 2014.
The Verito and Maxiimo would suit taxi needs and the e2O personal use, Goenka said.
Goenka told ETI: “It’s a not a large market but that’s not the point, it is [a] country where electric vehicles are wanted and that’s what makes us very excited.
“So whether we sell 100, 200, 500 or 1,000 [is] immaterial what is important is that we would be able to demonstrate working with the country that electric vehicles are real and practical and if that becomes the showpiece for the rest of the world things will definitely open up.”
Mahindra has inked an MoU with the Bhutanese government to create an EV infrastructure.
Goenka said: “We have given a four-phased proposal to the government of Bhutan as [to] how Mahindra can work with them. To begin with, government and personal vehicles [e2O], moving into the taxi fleet towards the end of the year and then moving on to the SUVs and buses in future and what we need to do in terms of infrastructure to make it happen.”
Total electric vehicles in Bhutan would number around 7,000-8,000 within about three years.
“It may require 3,500-4,000 charging stations to support that and for that there is [a] certain amount of investment required which is not very large and for which we have made a proposal and the government of Bhutan will work on it,” Goenka added.
He said the e20 hadn’t achieved the volume M&M hoped in India due partly to the lack of buyer incentives.
“We will certainly have to focus on overseas markets whether or not Indian incentives come. It just baffles me why the support is not coming already. But it has to happen. India will wake up to the electric vehicles maybe when more of such vehicles are available on the road,” Goenka said.
