Even as the headlines on electric vehicles (EVs) in India continue to be in slow-charge mode, the country’s largest carmaker. RC Bhargava, President, Maruti Suzuki India Limited says that the company may enter the EV market at the earliest after 2025. He argued that over the next few years the demand would not be sufficient to sell the quantity that would be aimed at.
It is true that EV offerings so far cannot match the price-value equation of fossil-fuel vehicles at the entry-level car market, which is dominated by Maruti. In addition, it will take some time for a reliable network of EV charging points or battery-replacement stations to sprout. All of this should dampen expectations of a rapid switchover to exhaust-free personal mobility. Still, it may prove difficult for Maruti to catch up with early EV entrants if there is a turnaround in demand before it is ready, and hence it may not lag behind other players on EV technology for long. Its experimentation with the electric version of its Wagon-R model was not very impressive. Whether it should rely on its research and development or go tech shopping, India’s car market leader must plan its EV approach carefully. There is no guarantee that leadership in one era will last in another.
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