20 May 22
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Mahindra teams up with Volkswagen to electrify Indian car market

Mahindra teams up with Volkswagen to electrify Indian car market

Indian carmaker Mahindra has signed an agreement with Volkswagen to explore integrating components from the MEB structure in their electric car platform. The collaboration must help both companies accelerate the electrification of the Indian car market.

Mahindra has developed the “Born Electric Platform” and will now look into the possibility of equipping it with battery cells, battery systems components and electric motors from Volkswagen.

The German company’s MEB architecture is a so-called open vehicle platform, which other manufacturers can source to develop and build an EV portfolio quickly. Ford is one of the adopters. For the Volkswagen Group, the sharing strategy brings an important economy of scale against the background of costly investments in electrification. Cars like the ID.3, ID.4 and ID.BUZZ use MEB.

50% EVs in 2030

Rajesh Jejurikar, Executive Director, Auto and Farm Sector, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd commented: “We are very pleased to have Volkswagen, a significant global investor in the electric mobility space, as a strategic partner in achieving our ambitious Born Electric Vison.” The company wants to unveil all details of its EV platform in Oxfordshire, UK, during the start of summer 2022.

India has uttered solid ambitions for the electrification of its national car fleet. The market is currently predominantly ICE powered, but the country has undersigned the COP26 Declaration vowing to only sell electric cars as of 2035. A significant uptake is expected over the coming years. The Volkswagen Group, which is locally present with five brands (Audi, Lamborghini, Porsche, Skoda and Volkswagen) is following analysts predicting that half of the car sales could be BEVs by 2030.

Image source: Volkswagen

Authored by: Piet Andries