Not Just Volkswagen, Indian Auto Giant To Source EV Components From Different Companies To Ramp Up Production

In a bid to catch up with its peers, Mahindra and Mahindra's MAHMF chief said the Indian automotive giant would explore sourcing more components from other companies to boost its electric vehicle (EV) portfolio.

What Happened: In an interview with Reuters at Davos, Mahindra Group's CEO Anish Shah, said the company had earlier focused on developing EV components in-house but is now looking otherwise to achieve faster growth in the segment.

This came after the company partnered with Volkswagen VWAGY last week to explore equipping its electric cars with motors, battery system components, and cells made by the German automaker.

"The world is moving towards a lot more partnerships. It's better to source the best that's out there rather than do everything ourselves," Shah told Reuters at the World Economic Forum summit at Davos.

"It's VW (Volkswagen) at this stage, and as we see similar strengths in other areas, we are open to looking at various components that we would bring in, and do what we are very good at in-house as well," Shah added.

Why It Matters: Electric Vehicles in India have been on a rising trend, with the overall number of vehicles witnessing over a three-fold jump in the last fiscal year.

Many companies from around the world, such as Fisker Inc FSR and Triton EV, are also eyeing to penetrate one of the largest auto markets. Recently, Tesla Inc TSLA placed its plans on hold after considering India as an expansion option for a long time and lobbying the government to lower import duties on its products.

Currently, Tata Motors TTM-made EVs lead the segment in India, with a market share of 85.37%.