Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles, a part of the USD 16.9 billion Mahindra Group, today said it plans to launch products in Europe next year.
"Europe is a very interesting space for us, we are looking at launching our products sometime in calendar year 2016 in European market," Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd Vice President (Sales and Marketing) Jagan Kurian told reporters here.
He said "we see a product space there, we are looking at the ecosystem which is evolving, and we feel Europe to be the better place to be in 2016."
Without sharing any numbers, he also said that it will be completely built electric cars that they are going to export to Europe.
Kurian was speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing on the completion of all-electric car expedition named the 'Mahindra Reva Goodness Drive' from Kashmir to Kanyakumari.
As part of the expedition three Mahindra e20 cars were driven, covering a distance of 5,300 kms and 52 locations.
Speaking about the market for electric cars worldwide, Kurien said 30 per cent of electric cars are sold in the US, 30 per cent in Europe and 30 per cent in China, around 8 to 9 per cent are sold in Japan, while the balance one per cent is rest of the world.
Asked whether the company will need to ramp up production for exports, he said 30,000 capacity at Bengaluru plant will be sufficient.
He said "we are not consuming anything much closer to this capacity, so we wouldn't have any challenge..., capacity is not an issue.
Mahindra Reva, currently present in eight markets across
the country, including Mumbai and Bengaluru, would be looking at other regions by mid of next year, Kurian said.
"We are looking at a few markets and are talking to local governments... Local tax structure is very important for this product..." he added.
Responding to a question on lack of infrastructure for electric cars affecting volumes, Mahindra Reva Chief Executive Officer Arvind Mathew said "absolutely, I think one of the biggest deters for the customer to buy electric car is they are always worried about when they will run out of juice..."
Pointing at increase in volumes when a few European countries had put in charging infrastructure as an example, he said, "...I think in my mind if government can really focus on. They have put the money out, we now need to implement."
Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai - all these cities need charging infrastructure, Mathew said, adding that it also needed along major corridors like Mumbai-Pune, Delhi-Jaipur, just like gas stations.
To promote eco-friendly vehicles, the government in April formally launched the FAME India scheme offering incentives on electric and hybrid vehicles -- up to Rs 29,000 for bikes and Rs 1.38 lakh for cars.
FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles) in India is a part of the National Electric Mobility Mission Plan. The scheme envisages Rs 795 crore support in the first two fiscals, starting with the current year.
Responding to a question on GST, Mathew said, "... I don't think it's going to happen in April, it would probably get extended. I prefer it gets done properly."
He said "electric vehicles is such a small segment that we haven't even popped up on their radar screen, but we are getting fairly active to make sure that at a GST level we make sure that we are treated equally, across the country...
