Volkswagen and India’s Mahindra explore e-car alliance

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Hamburg (Reuters) – Volkswagen is making faster progress than expected in its cooperation with the Indian car manufacturer Mahindra.

A few months after the preliminary contract for the delivery of components for the platform technology (MEB) developed by the Wolfsburg-based company for electric cars, the partners are already talking about deepening the partnership. Accordingly, possibilities of cooperation up to a strategic alliance are now being explored, as the two companies announced on Monday. As part of the supply agreement, a volume of more than one million units over the period of one vehicle generation and the delivery of a total of five electric SUV models with MEB components is aimed for. A binding supply contract should be drawn up by the end of 2022.

As part of the desired alliance, further fields of possible cooperation in e-mobility would be examined, including vehicle projects, the localization of battery cell production and charging and energy solutions for India. The partnership shows that the electrical kit developed by Volkswagen is on the way to becoming one of the leading open platforms for e-mobility, explained Volkswagen’s head of technology Thomas Schmall. Rajesh Jejurikar, managing director responsible for the automotive sector, said that the Inglo vehicle platform developed by Mahindra based on VW technology for e-mobility has growth potential not only for India but also for global markets.

With around three million new registrations a year, India is one of the five largest automotive markets in the world. Alongside China, the country was the only region with an increase in new registrations in the first half of the year. Experts expect that the electrification of the passenger car segment on the subcontinent will gain momentum in the coming years.

(Report by Jan C. Schwartz, edited by Hans Seidenstücker. If you have any questions, please contact our editorial team at [email protected] (for politics and economics) or [email protected] (for companies and markets). )