EV sales to hit 10 lakh mark in India by end of decade: Tata Motors

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Electric vehicle sales in the country are expected to hit the 10 lakh annual sales mark by the end of the decade, Tata Motors, which anticipates green vehicles to account for 50 per cent of its total sales by that period, said on Friday. The Mumbai-based auto major, which crossed 1 lakh cumulative EV sales milestone, currently gets 14-15 per cent of its overall sales from electric models on a quarterly basis. «Five years back, electric vehicles used to sell just 90 units a month. Today these sell 8,500 to 9,500 units a month, which is like 100 times more...five years back the industry had sold about 2,000 cars and we are talking about already an annualised run rate this year of more than one lakh units so it's a 50 times growth,» Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Managing Director Shailesh Chandra told reporters. Chandra, who also heads the company's passenger electric mobility vertical, noted that with enhanced charging infrastructure and with other automakers also entering the EV space, the vertical is set for sustained growth.

«In the next five years why it should not be at least 10 times close to 1 million is what I would say… its going to be an exciting time for the Indian consumers and for the country with the possible realisation of a vision that was laid down by the government,» he noted. When asked about the sales targets for Tata Motors in the EV segment, Chandra said: «We have really said that in the next four to five years we will target 25 per cent penetration and by the end of this decade we would have 50 per cent penetration is what we are aiming for.» Tata Motors currently sells a range of electric models