The company, which launched cross-over utility vehicle Windsor EV, said it will introduce one new product every six months. “We want to bank on the new energy vehicles (NEVs). So, whether that is strong hybrid, plug-in hybrid, or battery electric vehicles, these will be the cornerstone of MG going forward,” Jindal said, adding, “The traditional ICE (internal combustion engine), as we call it, without even a mild hybrid option, is something that we want to do away with. We are not very keen on bringing that into the country.”
However, Jindal said, “For certain models, if the technology has not developed, we may take those calls. It is not that MG will never bring it (ICE), but as much as we can avoid it, we would like to avoid (it).”
Overall, with the launch of the Windsor, JSW MG Motor is targeting nearly half of its sales to come in from electric vehicles by the end of the ongoing calendar year. JSW MG Motor India CEO Emeritus Rajeev Chaba said at present, EVs account for 35% of the company’s total sales.
“We have five cars right now and Windsor is the sixth. This is a total of three EVs and three ICE vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, our EV sales volumes have grown 52%. October onwards when we start deliveries of the Windsor we expect half our sales to come in from EVs”, Chaba said. The company has not announced the ex-showroom price of the Windsor, but is offering it at a price of Rs 9.99 lakh exclusive of the battery. Customers have the option to avail of the battery as a service at a price of Rs 3.5 per km.
The company has introduced an ownership plan through a Battery-as-a-Service (BaaS) offering and claimed that owning the Windsor, a full-size capable electric CUV, will be at the price equivalent of a manual engine-based compact SUV. Windsor EV is the first new model introduction for the automaker whose owner China’s SAIC Motor and JSW Group formed a joint venture to run MG Motor’s operations in India earlier this year. MG Windsor EV is much cheaper than the Tata Nexon EV (which starts at Rs 12.49 lakh) and the Mahindra XUV400 (priced upwards at Rs 15.49 lakh). Even the smaller Punch EV is available for a starting price of Rs 9.99 lakh. Tata Motors cut prices of its range of EVs by up to Rs 3 lakh for a limited period to increase sales during this festive season. All the prices are ex-showroom.Bookings of Windsor will start on October 3 and deliveries from October 12 onwards, the company said.
EVs currently comprise about 2% of all PVs sold in India. This is expected to rise to about 15-20% by 2030.
This calendar year, JSW MG Motor India is expecting to sell 70,000 units overall, Chaba said. The company, which also sells the Gloster and Astor SUVS, sold a total of about 60,000 vehicles in the local market last year.