Having charted out a clear roadmap for Jaguar Land Rover towards future electrification, will now be bringing 10 new battery-electric vehicles by 2025 for the standalone entity.
In his address to the shareholders in the 76th Annual Report, N Chandrasekaran, chairman of Tata Motors, said, “By 2025, Tata Motors will have 10 new BEV vehicles, and as a Group, we will invest proactively to set up charging infrastructure across the country. In addition, the Tata Group is actively exploring partnerships in cell and battery manufacturing in India and Europe to secure our supplies of batteries.”
Led by sales of 4000 Tata Nexon electric vehicles, the EV penetration in the company’s portfolio has now doubled to 2% in FY-21, and it expects penetration to increase exponentially in the coming years.
“Tata Motors will lead this change in the Indian market. Your company will be the torch-bearer for green mobility in the automotive world and create a virtuous cycle of growth and returns for our shareholders too. We are clear that this shift to sustainable mobility is an idea whose time has come, and the Tata Group will move forward with speed and scale to seize this and proactively drive the change in consumer behaviour in India and beyond,” added Chandrasekaran.
To address the other future disruptions of autonomous, connected and shared mobility, Tata Motors is also evaluating an automotive software and engineering vertical within the Group that will help us lead in a new world of connected and autonomous vehicles, informed the chairman.
To be sure, Tata Motors Group is in the process of pivoting its underlying business model towards sustainable mobility. Jaguar Land Rover is targeting 100% zero tailpipe emissions for the portfolio it sells by 2036. Jaguar will become fully electric by 2025. 60% of Jaguar Land Rover’s volumes will be pure BEV vehicles by 2030.
Globally, greater emphasis and scrutiny will be placed on building environmental sustainability and climate resilience into the very core of business models and to address and leverage these megatrends, and Tata Motors plan to make sustainable business models” a bedrock; of its strategy.”
“At the Tata Group, we would like to be amongst the world leaders on sustainability. As a large and diverse conglomerate based in India but with a global footprint, we are uniquely positioned for this leadership. Our companies are present in 150 countries. We employ over 750,000 people and touch the lives of 650 million consumers,” said Chandrasekaran.
The company expects the demand to remain strong on the outlook going ahead, with consumer preferences shifting further towards personal mobility. However, the supply situation is expected to be adversely impacted for the next few months due to disruptions from COVID-19 lockdowns in India and semiconductor shortages worldwide. Due to this, Chandrasekaran anticipates “a gradual improvement” in performance during the year.
He underlined that the business has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity last year and has strengthened its fundamentals. This track record gives him the confidence that the business will continue to build on its turnaround last year and deliver an even stronger performance in the coming years.
Chandrasekaran felt the urge to break free and have the freedom to move without fear or restrictions would shape future demand for passenger vehicles.