Tata Motors, the leader in the domestic electric passenger vehicle segment, is seeking to regain its market share of 50% in the mid-to-long term through expansion and renewal of its product portfolio, according to a top company official.
With the domestic electric passenger vehicle market fragmenting into four distinct segments on the basis of price points, the company will be entering the above Rs 20 lakh category with its upcoming Harrier.ev and Sierra.ev, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle and Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Managing Director Shailesh Chandra told PTI in an interview.
The company is working to make the total cost of ownership (TCO) of its EVs in the fleet segment comparable to that of CNG vehicles to regain volumes, he added.
“We have the aspiration of sustaining our market share beyond 50% in the mid to long term…We would aspire to be at a 50 per cent market share by having a very wide product portfolio and products which are aligned to the expectation of the customers,” Chandra said, adding that by mid-term, he meant 18-24 months and beyond.
He was responding to a query on how Tata Motors is looking to maintain its leadership position in the electric PV segment in the wake of intensifying competition.
Acknowledging that in the short term, the company will face challenges, he said the decline in the company’s market was “pretty much on the cards” as many players have come with multiple products with around 20 models in the market, including luxury cars.
The passenger EV market is now segmented into four parts—Rs 8-12 lakh; Rs 12 to 20 lakh; above Rs 20 lakh and the fleet segment, he noted.
Chandra said the company’s market share is about 40-41% at present, down from about 55% last fiscal, mainly on account of a drop in fleet sales and intense competition in the Rs 12 to 20 lakh segment.
“A big part of the loss in volume has come because of the loss of volume in the fleet segment. In the personal segment, we have been kind of sustaining our volumes, but we are losing market share because the competition is coming in,” he noted.
Elaborating on how the company is preparing to regain its overall market share, he said, “In the Rs 8-12 lakh segment where we have Tiago.ev and Punch.ev with 75% segment share, we are very comfortable. The idea would be to expand this part of the EV market. We are going to do that by strengthening the value proposition of the existing product and that work is on.”
In the Rs 12-20 lakh segment, he said it is the “most crowded segment” where “all the players have positioned one product or the other.”
“Here, our market share has come down to 33-35%. This is where we are trying to bring more compelling options with two products that we have here, Nexon.ev and Curvv.ev, to fiercely compete in this segment.”
Going forward, Chandra said, “There is another segment beyond Rs 20 lakh, which is emerging fast, and we are seeing the appetite of people also here to buy electric cars. This is the segment we are not present in right now. This is where we’ll come with Harrier.ev and then Sierra.ev. So, that will open a new segment for us, and that should strengthen our volume growth further.”
On the fleet segment, he said, “Last year, we faced stress because of the discontinuation of the FAME incentive and that brought down the volumes in the fleet segment.”
So far, the total cost of ownership of an electric car has beaten the diesel option, but the bigger market of the fleet is CNG, Chandra added.
“Therefore, the effort is on to ensure how we can bring the (EV) TCO down to the TCO of a CNG and therefore the value proposition in the fleet segment has to be taken forward in that direction and we are actively working on it.”
With all these actions in the short term, Chandra said, “We will be able to start regaining market share, and also expand our volumes.”
There will be a continuous expansion and renewal of the portfolio in line with how the market is shaping up, he said, adding “that would mean fresh products, very compelling products going forward.”
Tata Motors sold about 65,000 EVs in FY25, a drop of 10% compared to FY24.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
