India Indian Automobile Industry: News & Updates

[Gessler]

News from last month, but hugely significant at indicating the battery R&D capabilities of domestic companies:

JLR leverages Tata Group synergies, selects Agratas as battery partner for 720km range EVs​

Tata Group-owned Agratas is to supply battery packs of up to 120kWh capacity for future Jaguar and Land Rover electric cars​

JLR (formerly known as Jaguar Land Rover) will partner with Indian battery company Agratas to source packs that will give EVs a range of up to 450 miles / 720 kilometres, the company told investors on Monday.

Agratas is owned by JLR parent company Tata, which is looking at both the UK and Spain as a location to build a cell plant in Europe. Batteries are expected to initially come from a plant in Gujarat, India, after Tata signed a deal with the state in early June to build a cell plant there with an initial capacity of 20GWh.

JLR told attendees of the company’s investor day that batteries from Agratas would have a much higher energy density than those in the Jaguar I-Pace – currently the company’s only EV. The new batteries would give 120kWh from 342 litres of cell capacity, compared with 84kWh from 387 litres in the I-Pace pack, said JLR's head of product engineering, Thomas Müller.

The pack size would give a range of up to 450 miles / 720km in the EMA Ultra Range pack, Müller said. EMA is the new EV architecture that will underpin smaller Range Rover, Discovery and possible Defender models in the future.

JLR has already said the electric Jaguar would have a range of 434 miles (694km). 'The new battery would also allow rapid charging to add an extra 200 miles / 320km of range in 15 minutes, Müller said.

Agratas will be responsible for the cell design and production, with JLR overseeing the design and production of the cell pack.

Both companies will work together on a recycling solution. Müller promised “full transparency across the value chain” when it comes to sourcing and refining materials for the pack. JLR will launch an electric Range Rover next year, followed by the first of three electric Jaguars – a four-door GT – in 2025.

It’s not clear whether the Agratas batteries will be ready for the first electric Range Rover or Jaguar.

JLR selects Agratas as battery partner for 720km range electric cars | Autocar Professional

Tata Group-owned Agratas is to supply battery packs of up to 120kWh capacity for future Jaguar and Land Rover electric cars

www.autocarpro.in

 

[Gessler]

The XUV700's EV version:

Mahindra XUV e8 production-spec design leaked via patent image | Autocar India

The Mahindra XUV e8 will be an electric sibling to the XUV700, and will launch by December 2024. Tap here for more details.

www.autocarindia.com

 

[Nilgiri]

Another guy impressed with the performance of Mahindra, this time the scorpio:

 

[Nilgiri]

45,000 crore INR ~ 5.5 billion USD

Maruti Suzuki looking to invest around Rs 45,000 crore to double production capacity

Speaking at the companys annual general meeting on Tuesday, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said the company will utilise its cash reserves to double production capacity by 2031. The company will also take up suggestions by shareholders for a stock split to its board for consideration, said...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, is looking at investing about Rs 45,000 crore to double production capacity to four million units per annum by the end of the decade.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said the company will utilise its cash reserves to double production capacity by 2031.

(More at link)

 

[Jackdaws]

45,000 crore INR ~ 5.5 billion USD

Maruti Suzuki looking to invest around Rs 45,000 crore to double production capacity

Speaking at the companys annual general meeting on Tuesday, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said the company will utilise its cash reserves to double production capacity by 2031. The company will also take up suggestions by shareholders for a stock split to its board for consideration, said...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

Maruti Suzuki, the country’s largest carmaker, is looking at investing about Rs 45,000 crore to double production capacity to four million units per annum by the end of the decade.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting on Tuesday, Maruti Suzuki chairman RC Bhargava said the company will utilise its cash reserves to double production capacity by 2031.

(More at link)

Suzuki has improved it's India offering by leaps and bounds in terms of features. Now with Bharat NCAP in place, they need to improve safety rating.

 

[Gessler]

Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 unveiled at EICMA. The first test drives in Ladakh have been published by international media:

An EICMA sneak peek of the first RE electric testbed, the HIM-E:

Love the new Tata Harrier & Safari:

They say the Harrier EV is right around the corner, too.

 

[Gessler]

Other bike concepts unveilved at EICMA:

Ultraviolette F99, a track-focused variant of the F77. This 265-kph top speed electric will go on sale in Europe sometime next year.

 

[Nilgiri]

More made-in-India cars hit the roads abroad in 2023

"With increasingly stringent regulations focusing on safety, emissions, and technological advancements, car manufacturers are investing in research, development, and innovation," said Piyush Arora, managing director and CEO of Škoda Auto Volkswagen India. VW exported 40,920 passenger vehicles in...

economictimes.indiatimes.com

 

[Gessler]

Exclusive: JLR explores EV manufacturing in India for the world​

As India-UK FTA talks gather momentum, Tata Motors-owned company looks at making a multi-billion-pound investment here.
By Ketan Thakkar​

Amid intense ongoing negotiation of the India-UK Free Trade Agreement, JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover), the marquee brand owned by Tata Motors, is exploring the potential of manufacturing electric vehicles in India. The discussion, which is at an advanced stage of conclusion, if given the green light, will create the biggest manufacturing facility for JLR outside of the UK. The investment is likely to be made in Sanand, Gujarat, however, the company is exploring other alternatives, including Pune – its original home base.

JLR’s India EV manufacturing plans​

According to sources, JLR is exploring possibilities of utilising the EMA architecture, which will be localised by Tata Motors for its Avinya range of cars. The original Avinya platform was revealed in 2022 as the company’s Gen 3 or pure EV platform. However, plans to develop the Avinya platform in-house were dropped a year into the programme in favour of adopting JLR’s architecture. This switch has led to a delay of around six months in the rollout of the first Gen 3 architecture-based EV now expected in 2026-2027, which is likely to be a luxury SUV that sits above the Harrier and Safari in the company’s model range.

Autocar Professional learns that this project could entail a multi-billion-pound investment to develop at least four models each from Tata Motors and JLR over the coming decade. The projected volume is envisaged at around 3,00,000 units, with one-third planned for Tata Motors and about two-thirds for JLR – which will predominantly supply export markets with a very small share of the domestic market in India.

This ambitious project has gathered momentum, as the proposed India-UK FTA negotiations reach an advanced stage, says a PTI report, with the Prime Minister’s Office having reviewed the progress on the talks as late as last week. “The talks for the agreement are at a crucial stage now. About three reviews have happened so far at the highest level,” PTI reported quoting sources, adding that both countries are working to iron out differences on the remaining issues.

So far, 13 rounds of talks have been completed and the 14th round started on January 10, according to news reports. Tata Motors spokesperson offered no comments to the email queries on the same.

Tata's Avinya EV Concept - Unveiled in 2022 and set to spawn a family of Pure EVs​

JLR to use Tata-owned Agratas' battery packs​

The Tata Group had earlier announced an investment of $1.3 billion (over Rs 10,000 crore) in Agratas, a cell manufacturing company that will set up its base in Gujarat. It has partnered with Envision AESC as the global supplier of battery technology and cells. A sizable part of the business for Tata Agratas is likely to come from JLR if the project goes through.

In the run up to these conversations, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd (its EV subsidiary) and JLR had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the licensing of JLR’s Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) platform for a royalty fee (including electrical architecture, electric drive unit, battery pack and manufacturing know-hows) for the development of Tata’s upcoming born-electric vehicles in November.

PB Balaji, the Group CFO of Tata Motors, had explained that this is part of the company's strategy to transition eventually to skateboard EVs, or Gen 3 products. "If you recollect, we had shared our plans of having Gen 1 – converted architecture, Gen 2 – flexible ICE and BEV architecture, and Gen 3 – pure EV architecture. When we looked around for a platform for pure EVs, we realised that for Avinya, which was always planned to be premium, JLR architecture fits well," Balaji had said.

He had also stated that the Avinya architecture will not just be for one car but is likely to spawn a family or range of electric vehicles in the future. With the Avinya concept, right from the onset, Tata Motors had plans to go global with it. It will, therefore, be significantly more premium than any of Tata’s existing vehicles, perhaps with similar positioning as its counterpart from JLR.

"It will reduce our development time, advance Tata Motors into advanced electrical and electronic architecture and prepare the brand for future autonomous vehicles. It is a significant win-win strategy for both Tata Motors and JLR," added Balaji.

Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekharan with British PM Rishi Sunak; Tata has recently sealed a $5 billion deal to build a Battery Gigafactory in the UK​

JLR’s EMA architecture details​

The born-electric EMA architecture, which was announced in 2021, will spawn the next-generation Velar, Evoque and Discovery Sport. Of these, the Velar will be the first to arrive and is due for its debut by late 2024. The EMA platform will be able to accommodate advanced driver assistance systems and extensive cloud connectivity, with the carmaker claiming that it will be capable of communicating with other cars and infrastructure. The EMA platform is “engineered around the battery” with its flat floor allowing for maximum interior space. It will also be able to accommodate batteries of different chemistries.

In addition, the platform is claimed to allow for Software Over The Air (SOTA), Level 2+ autonomy and Feature Over The Air (FOTA) capabilities. The EMA platform will feature a highly integrated propulsion system with cell-to-pack battery technology, battery management and a charging system. Further, the platform will also be eligible for a 5-star safety rating and ultrafast charging technologies for high-performance vehicles.

JLR's Electrified Modular Architecture (EMA) Platform​

JLR’s EMA architecture to be localised​

When the first batch of vehicles based on the EMA platform goes into production from late 2024 onwards, it will initially be produced at JLR’s Halewood plant in the UK. Originally opened by Ford, the plant is already undergoing a conversion for the production of battery electric vehicles. However, with the Avinya series of models that’s due from 2025, Tata Motors will be localising the EMA architecture here in India to keep costs competitive while still bearing a premium positioning.

This is the second major joint project announced by Tata Motors and JLR after the Harrier and Safari SUVs that are based on the Jaguar Land Rover Freelander’s D8 platform. However, the EMA partnership for a full vehicle development programme is a significant step up in the level of collaboration between Tata Motors and JLR.

Exclusive: JLR explores EV manufacturing in India for the world | Autocar Professional

JLR (formerly Jaguar Land Rover), the marquee brand owned by Tata Motors, is exploring the potential of manufacturing electric vehicles in India.Tap for more

www.autocarpro.in

 

[Gessler]

Indians now hold majority share in JSW MG Motor India​

By Ketan Thakkar and Prerna Lidhoo

20 Mar 2024​

Indians hold a majority stake in the newly formed JSW M G Motor India - a joint venture between JSW Group and China's largest car maker Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation's British Brand MG Motor India. The Chairman of the joint entity will be from the JSW Group.

Announcing the operationalisation of the joint venture - Parth Jindal, a member of the steering committee of JSW MG Motor India told media persons at an event in Mumbai, "JSW is taking a 35 percent stake in MG Motor India. Apart from JSW, the Indian Financial Institution (IFI) is taking an 8 percent stake in the joint venture. The dealers are buying 3 percent in the joint venture, and 5 percent is being kept for the employees. So, 51% of the company will be owned by Indians and the total investment that is being made is above 5,000 crore into this venture."

In May 2023, MG Motor had shared that it plans to "Indianise" the company - with a majority stake will be owned by an Indian promoter over 4-5 years. This has become a reality on the first day of this venture. The announcement had come in the wake of M G Motor not getting FDI approvals from the Government of India amid - geo-political tension with China.

It is an all encompassing deal that includes the existing products of MG Motor India and also the products that are in the pipeline. The JSW MG Motor JV will be investing Rs 5000 crore in the first phase of kicking off the venture.

Explaining the contours of the joint venture, Rajiv Chaba, CEO Emeritus of MG Motor India said, "We wanted to set an example and incentivise our dealers, marketing partners and employees. This is a one-of-a-kind of structure in the automotive industry - where dealers and employees are the (part) owners of our company. Mr Jindal wanted this to happen in the automotive industry as he does in many of its other businesses. The deal was structured in a way that it is a win-win for all stakeholders of the company."

Chaba declined to share the valuation of the deal but added that all the stakeholders are investing about Rs 5000 crore in this first phase, which takes care of capacity expansion to 300,000 units and the introduction of a few new cars. "But when you talk of Sajjan Jindal's vision for the next 10 years, the investment is going to be much more than that as the JSW will be investing in cells and batteries," added Chaba.

Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group said, "It is not important what percentage of holding JSW has, what is important is that we bring the best available technology cars to India and then manufacture and design them in India and give it to Indian customers at the best price."

JSW Group and SAIC Motor had announced the partnership in November 2023, the venture is now getting operationalised with the Indian Group setting itself a target of selling 1 million new energy vehicles by 2030.

Indians now hold majority share in JSW MG Motor India, JV to invest Rs 5000 crore in first phase | Autocar Professional

Indians now hold majority share in JSW MG Motor India, JV to invest Rs 5000 crore in first phase

www.autocarpro.in