Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) has strengthened its presence in the Electric Vehicle (EV) industry by partnering with Volkswagen. It plans to use Volkswagen’s MEB (Modular Electric Drive Matrix) electric components such as electric motors, battery system components and battery cells for its new Born Electric platform.
Volkswagen’s MEB electric platform is currently being used by its group brands – Audi, Skoda, Seat/Cupra. As of now, it provides the technology base for ten electric models from five brands. It has been designed as an open vehicle platform that helps automakers to make electric vehicles in an economical manner. The platform caters to a wide range of segments and vehicle types from compact vehicles to vans to SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles).
“The use of MEB components will give M&M access to rapidly evolving global technologies. This will ensure that M&Ms have access to the latest technologies and should also help them reduce development time and cost to launch their own borne electric vehicles,” said Nomura Financial Advisory & Securities (India) Pvt Ltd. analysts said in a report on May 19.
“The economies of scale of MEB can help reduce costs, especially for batteries. We believe M&M is working on a localization plan for the parts it wants to use to take advantage of the Indian cost. Otherwise we see a risk of importing material more than our counterparts.”
M&M’s Bourne Electric Vision will be unveiled in July and Bourne EVs are likely to be launched from 2025. Before that, it is planning to launch the e-XUV400 by the last quarter of the financial year 2023.
Against this background, management’s commentary on its future strategy for EVs calls for attention. It is expected to announce its March quarter (Q4FY22) results on May 28, and cost pressure on margins will be a major monitorable.
Meanwhile, M&M shares have risen 8% so far in calendar year 2022, while the Nifty Auto index has remained flat.