By : JHARNA MAZUMDAR
NEW DELHI :
Riding on the success of Nexon EV, Tata Motors will soon launch the electric variant of its premium small car, Altroz, in December this year. The move is expected to further enhance the company’s positioning in the EV space, where it already enjoys a market share of over 65 percent (Year-To-Date in FY21), owing to the consistent demand for Nexon EV SUV.
Replying to an email query by TURN OF SPEED, Tata Motors said, “We have the largest portfolio of EVs which includes Tigor EV and Nexon EV. In addition, we have already announced that our next product will be the Altroz EV. Going forward, we would like to drive penetration of 5-10% of the products that we launch, within the segments that we are present. For example, we sell around 6000 Nexon ICEs per month and around 300 Nexon EVs per month which is equal to 5% penetration.”
With the increasing demand for EVs, Tata Motors is actively working on building infrastructure to address concerns relating to charging of the vehicles. According to the company’s spokesperson, Tata Motors is looking to install 700 charging stations by FY21, for which it has partnered with Tata Power. Collectively, the two companies are working on providing charging solutions that can be applicable for usage at home, workplace, or captive and public places. As on July 31, 2020, Tata Motors along with Tata Power, have installed 181 EV charging points in 20 cities, across key metros such as Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Ahmedabad.
Tata Altroz EV, which was previewed at this year’s Auto Expo, will feature the brand’s Ziptron electric vehicle technology, which is also utilized in the company’s Nexon EV. However, it is expected that the electric version of the hatchback will be featured with an updated version of this technology which will offer better range, efficiency and performance, potentially around 250km – 300km. Along with supporting both, standard and DC fast charging, the upcoming car is expected to have Tata Motor’s new ZConnect application, which offers features such as remote monitoring of the current charge levels, available range, charging history, nearest charging stations, among others. Further, Altroz EV is expected to have a slight deviation from the standard design of its non-EV variant. The company is yet to reveal the price of the vehicle.
The company refused to comment on overall marketing and advertising spends. “As [per] the company policy, we don’t disclose our marketing spends but suffice to say that we have allocated necessary funds to support our marketing strategy – to create awareness and bust myths around EVs, thus accelerating the EV adoption in the county,” the spokesperson said.
Tata Motors recorded 21.6% growth in domestic sales of 35,420 units, driven by strong growth of 154% in passenger vehicle segment. Domestic commercial vehicle segment continued to remain under pressure with the segment declining 28%. Tata Motors sales in the domestic and international market for August 2020 stood at 36,472 vehicles, compared to 32,166 units during August 2019, grew 13.3%.
