Mahindra is closely looking at the hybrid technology space and will be ready to introduce hybrid vehicles if there is a strong customer demand, says Anish Shah, company MD, at the Q4 earnings call earlier today.
- Hybrids more expensive to build; unlikely to get incentives
- Maruti and Toyota currently lead the hybrid market in India
However, government incentives for hybrid cars don't make sense, according to Shah. He noted that Mahindra will be ready to get into hybrids if the demand increases. “We view hybrids as an extension of ICE; it's a slightly different powertrain. And to the extent that it's required, we'll be ready with that. If there's a significant change in hybrid technology that causes it to be much more like an EV, then that's something we'll move into much faster.”
"At this point, we feel good about our focus on EVs. We'll be ready for hybrids. We're looking at the hybrid technologies closely and we'll continue to act upon it," Shah said.
Shah added, “I know there's been a lot of debate on hybrids but government incentives are typically to enable an industry to transition to a place that's better for the economy. Electric vehicles (EVs) have no emissions. They have got much lower fuel import because they don't use fuel.”
He added that governments around the world are providing incentives to electric vehicles to transition to the same. "In hybrids, there's no material change in emissions. Yes, there's some benefit from a fuel efficiency standpoint, but that's still very marginal. And it's more expensive to build because it's got two powertrains, which is also the reason why governments around the world have largely stopped providing any incentives for hybrids in the last 20 years," he said. "The question is, is an incentive really required for hybrids?"
This comes against the backdrop of Toyota's aggressive push in the hybrid segment with about 78 percent market share, while Suzuki Japan has also expressed intent to bring a cost-effective hybrid car. Suzuki is hoping for the GST to be lowered on hybrid cars, to be able to leverage more volumes. Hybrid models accounted for about 2 percent of India's total car sales of 4.1 million in 2023.
BY PRERNA LIDHOO
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